Shenzhen, the Engine that Drives China's Economy

Night and Day

 We rode the train to Lo Wu, the last stop in the New Territories on the KCR (Kowloon Canton Railroad), Hong Kong's railroad system. Very few people, if any, lived at Lo Wu. Lo Wu was only a border crossing for foot traffic between Hong Kong and China. Inside the train station were the Hong Kong immigration and customs offices. Everything here was just like any other office or business in Hong Kong, clean and efficient.

 

 After our passports had been checked we set out over a double decked bridge, crossing a small river which separates Hong Kong from China proper. Crossing the bridge we looked to the left at the Chinese side of the border. There in a prominent place was a large sign which read: "Hong Kong: You have a bright and glorious future." referring of course to the changeover of sovereignty which was to occur in about nine months. We were not permitted to take photographs while inside of the border crossing complex, so you can only see a small portion of it as seen from Hong Kong.

Once across the bridge, we were inside of the Chinese customs and immigration offices. We presented our passports and were admitted without any difficulty.

The first thing that Jim and I noticed about Shenzhen was that it was dirtier, less modern, things ran less efficiently, and the people appeared much poorer than in Hong Kong. The best contrast that I think can be made is to compare walking across the border from San Diego, CA into Tijuana, Mexico.

"Made in China"

The purpose of our visit to China was to visit some of the factories where some of the products sold by Jim's company are manufactured. I was allowed to tag along, even though I'm not a part of the company, provided that I stay in the background and not get in anybody's way. Not a problem. For that reason I didn't get a lot of pictures while in Shenzhen.

Most of China's manufacturing base is located in the Guangdong provice, of which Shenzhen is a part. Shenzhen and the area surrouding it are located in what is known as the "Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (SEZ)." There are a handful of SEZ's set up around China. These are areas where different sets of laws apply, allowing foreign investment and capitalism to thrive. For this reason, low labor rates, cheaper land, and lax government laws, many major corporations have shifted their manufacturing operations from Hong Kong to the Shenzhen SEZ.

The thing that struck me most about the factories in the SEZ was the working conditions. The Chinese obviously have different ground rules for running an industrial plant than do we in the United States. First of all the lower wages. In one factory we visited workers were paid about $0.60 per hour, plus room and board (six to a small dormitory room) and medical expenses; extremely low by U.S. standards, but there were young women who flocked to this electronics assembly factory from all over China because of the high wages.

This may sound somewhat like an editorial, and for this I will apologize. I understand that it is good business to pay out wages commensurate with what the local economy will bear. The things that really distrubed me about some of the factories I visited were the actual working conditions.

In addition to the electronics assembly lines that we visited, we also visited an operation that specializes in the molding of plastic. The actual working conditions were apalling. I know from my work experience that many of the conditions and pracitces that I saw in Shenzhen are illegal in the United States

   For example in this picture we see several workers operating drill presses. They are drilling holes into aluminum blocks. I did not see one pair of safety glasses either worn by the workers, or even available to them. Metal chips were flying everywhere, and these workers would sometimes put their faces down next to the piece being drilled so that they could see for certain that the drill bit was being put down in precisely the right location. In most countries an employer is required by law to provide protective equipment to the workers.
 

 The use of chemicals was another issue that raised concerns in my mind. In Shenzhen, I saw people dipping plastic parts into a solvent tank. The parts would have to sit in the tank for a prescribed period of time and then be removed. This is not an uncommon type of operation, but the manner in which it was performed was alarming.

Here workers are seen sitting next to tubs of an organic solvent. They are busily retrieving items from the tubs with their bare hands. I don't know exactly what the organic solvent was, but it had an odor somewhat similar to paint thinner. The only ventilation in the room was a small open window.

 

 Chemical handling again. Here is a worker who is painting a finished parts. He's holding it with his bare hands while painting. He has no gloves. He has no breathing air supply. He doesn't even have a surgical-type mask. There is nothing to protect him from the injurious paint fumes.

The ventilation system that you see here is nothing more than an open window with a fan in it. All hazardous fumes are being vented directly to the outside environment. In the United States, and most other industrialized nations it is required to have some sort of a scrubber system which removes harmful substances from the exhaust.

I also saw drums of ozone depleting substances in some of the factories. Most of these substances were outlawed by international treaty many years ago.

 

My visit to the factories of Shenzhen have caused my to stop and think each time I see a product with the label "Made in China." Many people will say that it's not wrong to pay the low wages. "It's what the market will bear," is what I often hear. My thoughts go back to these some of these unfortunate soles who toil away in unhealthy and dangerous environments for less than a dollar per hour. I think of the toxic chemicals that are released to the environment on a routine basis.It leaves in my mind a question as to whether or not we are doing the right thing to buy a product that says "Made in China."

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