Near the end of the show the reporter asks a Foxconn executive whether they would be happy to let Apple pay each employee double what the currently received. He responds positively and says this is good for the Chinese economy. One must understand that Foxconn is competing against products that could only be produced in an advance economy such as the US. It gained it's status through low wages and now has won the market.
Most manufacturing businesses owned by the Chinese middle class are competing against other undeveloped Asian economies that have lower wages than China. Most of these manufacturers are against wage hikes because it runs them out of business. This is a very hot political issue in China as the Government has said in the current 5 year plan that it will be moving parts of the country away from cheap labour manufacturing. The Government's plan is to ban migration of labour to developed cities like Shenzhen and Wenzhou.
I wish some of this context was explained in the show.
Most manufacturing businesses owned by the Chinese middle class are competing against other undeveloped Asian economies that have lower wages than China. Most of these manufacturers are against wage hikes because it runs them out of business. This is a very hot political issue in China as the Government has said in the current 5 year plan that it will be moving parts of the country away from cheap labour manufacturing. The Government's plan is to ban migration of labour to developed cities like Shenzhen and Wenzhou.
I wish some of this context was explained in the show.