Ren Wenbing hesitates to depart from the abandoned brick structure that once buzzed with activity, housing a thriving factory in Dongguan, China’s manufacturing nucleus.
“All the workers feel astonished,” shares the 54-year-old, indicating where he once meticulously assembled furniture and where communal lunches were shared.
The factory’s proprietor relocated production to Southeast Asia to curtail expenses.
Mr. Ren discloses being owed over 80,000 RMB ($11,000; £8,800) in severance pay, a sum he fears might take years to recoup.
“We are disappointed, and we grieve,” he adds solemnly, as demolition equipment wreaks havoc on the building’s windows.
Mr. Ren mourns not only the demise of a furniture enterprise but also the waning prominence of China’s erstwhile buoyant economy, which now presents formidable challenges for countless job seekers.
For individuals like him, the diminished production in China falls short.
Yet, while accusations from the West persist regarding China’s excessive manufacturing output, recent remarks from US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen underscore this sentiment.
During her recent visit, she admonished Beijing for “unfair economic practices,” citing overproduction beyond global capacity.
The renowned “Made in China” label, once ubiquitous on apparel, furniture, and electronics worldwide, is undergoing a transformation.
It’s now intricately intertwined with the surge of electric vehicles inundating Germany and the solar panels fueling Europe’s renewable energy initiatives, much to the West’s apprehension.
Escalating trade tensions with the United States, stringent COVID-19 lockdown measures, and a global economic downturn have prompted some manufacturers, erstwhile drawn to Chinese shores, to explore alternative options.
Consequently, foreign investment in China has plummeted to a 30-year low.
Amidst this transition, traditional industrial sectors such as furniture, apparel, and electronics are grappling, prompting Beijing to pivot towards its “new productive forces” such as solar panels, lithium batteries, and electric vehicles.
“We are exporting to the UK, Belgium, Germany, mostly European countries, but also to Africa, Australia, South America, North America and also South East Asia,” reveals salesperson Yan Mu, showcasing the company’s array of storage batteries at an exhibition featuring numerous green energy storage firms in Beijing.
China’s meteoric rise in solar panel installations surpasses that of the United States by an order of magnitude, significantly driving down manufacturing costs.
European manufacturers find themselves in a struggle to remain competitive, with 97% of solar panels installed across Europe originating from China in 2023.
However, China’s burgeoning industries entail significantly lower labor intensity than their predecessors, necessitating specialized, highly skilled labor and, increasingly, automation.
Despite headlines focusing on youth unemployment, China’s urban unemployment rate remains above 5%.
The United States and the European Union perceive China’s strategy as an attempt to bolster its economy through the production and exportation of subsidized green technology, driving down prices and forcing Western firms out of the market.
China refutes these claims, attributing its success to innovation rather than state subsidies, asserting a global demand for their exports amid a transition towards environmentally sustainable energy sources.
As the narrative shifts towards innovation and technology, individuals like Mr. Ren find themselves sidelined in China’s economic resurgence.
Having migrated from rural areas in pursuit of employment opportunities, he represents one of nearly 300 million migrant workers who have resettled in urban centers across China, leaving families behind to seek livelihoods in distant provinces.
“My children, of course, miss me,” he acknowledges, underscoring the sacrifices made for the sake of providing for his family’s future.
As China stands at a critical juncture, so too do the lives of its migrant workers.
Ren and his wife now occupy a cramped living space in Dongguan, scouring job listings with diminishing hopes of securing employment that matches their expectations.
Reflecting on the uncertain future, Mr. Ren contemplates the explanation he will offer his children for his prolonged absence.
“I don’t know how to give a good answer,” he muses.
“I could simply say – your mother and I are away because we want to give you a better life and better education.
We hope you can learn things so that in the future you don’t need to work as hard as us.”
As Dongguan endeavors to reinvent itself as a high-tech hub, individuals like Mr. Ren grapple with the reality of an evolving economic landscape, where traditional employment opportunities are eclipsed by the demands of a rapidly advancing technological era.
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