In October 12 and 13, 2016, Premier Li Keqiang of the State Council investigated Dongguan and Shenzhen successively. In Dongguan, the focus of its research is the upgrading of traditional manufacturing. This proposition, which concerns the future of Dongguan, is also about the future of China's industry.
In the traditional manufacturing industry, in addition to electronic products, a more typical thing in Dongguan is a daily necessities: shoes. Dongguan has made 1/4 sports shoes in the world.
In Dongguan Houjie workers, Chang Jian Footwear Company Limited in the plant are now accustomed to the scene, every day from time to time, there will be several workers to those just neither fast nor slow out of the production of shoes to move the car. In the Nuo big factory, it appears lonely and open. These include CAT and other international well-known brands in the excellent Er shoes will be exported to Europe across the sea. And a few years ago, the factory has heavy traffic, people compare.
In the view of Tong Shuishun, chairman of Changjian shoe industry, the situation of Dongguan shoe industry is similar to that in 2008. That year, under the storm of international finance, Tong Shui Shun was "startled" by the sudden disappearance of factories from American orders overnight.
In the past ten years, the European and American markets have cut down orders for the shoe factory, so that employees have dropped by 90%.
The plight of the shoe industry is also applicable to other traditional manufacturing industries in Dongguan. Since 2008, as a "world factory", the supremacy of Dongguan's manufacturing industry has been shaken. The global economy continues to sluggish, and the export - based manufacturing industry in Dongguan has been hit. Even worse, as domestic labor costs continue to climb, large numbers of large generation factories have moved, compressed and even closed.
10 years ago, Dongguan officials saw: "if we use cheap land and labor as an advantage to attract capital, and suicide." "But not very well." Jiang Lin, an economics professor at Zhongshan University who was a special researcher in Dongguan, told reporters at the first financial 1 degree reporter that Dongguan's traditional manufacturing industry is "too big."
Labor force plight
A strange phenomenon is in the Houjie Ting Shan community, where the Changjian shoe industry is located. The two sides of the open streets are "old", but the "rental" banners that have been closed by some gates are outmoded. In other places, some "red collar" advertisements are highlighted.
A few years ago, Tong Shuishun said, the streets would be crowded as soon as they came to work. That is the most brilliant moment in Dongguan shoe industry. When the children Shuishun factory is almost orders received mercy, and he constantly expanding. Now, the workers here are at least half less. European and American customers sent a warning to Tong Shui Shun, telling him that there was no order.
As much as possible in order to take orders, Tong Shuishun currently international brand OEM 00 spread, including CAT, ESPRIT, Jana, more than ten kinds of brand. "Here in Dongguan are small orders, large orders have gone to the South East Asia." He said.
For ten years, now has over 60 years old children Shuishun witnessed around "a lot of people who are more talented than me" to close their factories in Dongguan.
According to the "Southern Metropolis Daily" reported that since the financial crisis, Dongguan global production of the largest sports shoes production enterprises - Yu Yuan group, China largest shoes production enterprises - Huajian group, and dalibu group (Oasis shoes, Luyang shoes), Shuntian group (leekai shoes) and a number of popular all over the world the footwear group, have in the transfer.
Before the financial crisis, these smart Commercial Big Macs have begun to perceive the adverse environment in Dongguan. Soon, they will have the capacity to Southeast Asia and Africa, labor is more abundant and cheaper countries. At home, they moved to inland provinces such as Sichuan, Jiangxi, Hunan and other provinces.
As one of the Taiwanese businessmen supporting the "half of the day" in Dongguan's manufacturing industry, Tong Shui Shun also reduced the company's capacity in Dongguan. He moved to Dongguan on 1990 in Taiwan shoe factory. In the past few years, he has transferred most of the capacity in Dongguan to Vietnam and Laos. He became a "air flying man" and kept back and forth between Dongguan and the above.
The rising cost of labor in Dongguan has forced Tong Shuishun to make such a choice. According to Tong Shuishun saying, put into operation in Kampuchea factory, initially equipped with 3 production lines, about 1500 people, the new general salary of $128, 8 hours, six days, plus overtime and other allowances, is about $200-250, less than half of Dongguan shoe workers.
"In Dongguan, it is difficult to recruit people, and the cost is high." This is the first sentence said by Xie Qingyuan, executive vice president of Dongguan Taiwan Association, who has been interviewed by reporters at 1.
Recently, Tong Shuishun factory suddenly some orders, he need to recruit more workers. But he took a month, and finally he didn't get a fit. "The biggest problem is that the social structure is changing." He used his own factory to say that the people who had chosen to work in Dongguan had to leave their homes because they had no factories. With the rise of factories in the mainland and the need to care for their parents and children, many of his employees no longer come back.
Manufacturers choose to fly south-east, not only because of relatively low labor costs. Tong Shuishun said, for example, a pair of women's shoes, even if the price of China and Kampuchea is 9 dollars, the customer will still choose to place the order in Kampuchea. This concerns the issue of customs duties. Because the shoes exported from China to Europe need to pay 15-20% tariffs. Vietnam's footwear exports to Europe are less than 10%, while Kampuchea exports to Europe.
The peak of children Shuishun opened 5 factories in Dongguan, the staff of nearly 10000. But he has now compressed the factories to two, and employees have dropped by 90%, about 1000.
Dongguan shoe companies are constantly lean. For nearly 20 years, Li Peng, the Secretary General of the Asian footwear industry association, has studied for nearly 100 thousand years in Dongguan footwear industry. For example, Yuyuan group has more than 100 thousand workers at its peak, but now there are only about twenty thousand or thirty thousand people. Xie Qingyuan said that from 2008 to now, the remaining capacity of Taiwanese manufacturers in Dongguan is less than 1/3. Li Peng said that the previous use of less than 3000 people is considered small and medium-sized factories, less than 1000 people are considered to be small factories. And with the relocation of large factories, about 3000 people are now large factories.
The home of the resurrection
Tong Shuishun's shoe factory in Dongguan has shrunk to the smallest scale, and the overall business situation is "a little bit, a little bit, up and down."
More than 10 years ago, a pair of shoes with an export price of 5 dollars could earn 2 dollars. Five or six yuan ago, they could earn about 1 dollars. Now, they export 15 pairs of shoes, or even 1 yuan, but the profit margin is only about 1%, and some orders will also lose money. They can only go through the way to rob Peter to pay Paul total flattening.
"You may laugh at me." Tong Shuishun told reporters at 1 centigrade, "a pair of shoes, we don't have a profit now." Even so, he did not choose to close all his factories in Dongguan, one of which was because of the fear of employees who had been unemployed for years. "Some of these old employees are reading college, and what if they don't have a job suddenly?"
He added that in 2008, when the company was the most difficult, the staff had never abandoned him. He believes that the most low - level workers contribute the most to China's manufacturing.
However, Dongguan has no advantage in other places. After several years of development, although the level of Southeast Asian countries, Chinese shoe has been in hot pursuit, in water and other Taiwan Tong Xie Qingyuan eyes, Dongguan is still the world's most important shoe-making base, its status has not been replaced by other places.
Just like Li Peng and other people who have studied for many years in Dongguan manufacturing industry, many high value-added links such as R & D, design and purchase have remained in Dongguan. International buyers, raw materials and high-end shoe making talents are still gathered in Dongguan.
Since the choice to leave, Shuishun Tong said, the factory has been to find ways to achieve their own transformation and upgrading.
Since the beginning of 2008, Guangdong officials began to request Dongguan to adhere to the core task of implementing Scientific Outlook on Development and promoting transformation and upgrading of processing trade.
It is reported that there are at least more than 7000 processing enterprises in Dongguan.
Jiang Lin, an economics professor at Zhongshan University, thinks that transformation and upgrading is a very difficult problem even for Dongguan who owns tens of thousands of manufacturing enterprises. "It's very scary in quantity." He said, because most of the enterprises in Dongguan do not belong to their own brands, for those enterprises, there are not many enterprises that are really capable and willing to transform and upgrade.
But Dongguan has been working hard. In particular, in recent years, the government of Dongguan is "changing the machine like a raging fire". 2016 Dongguan municipal government report showed that in 2015, Dongguan made 2025 strategies to promote the development of "machine replacement" and intelligent equipment manufacturing industry. The city has more than 400 intelligent equipment manufacturing enterprises, and the robot industrial cluster has begun to take shape.
The advantage of replacing manual robots with automated robots is like a train to a carriage, which will solve the difficult and expensive problem of manufacturing industry in Dongguan. Tong Shuishun visited Germany's automated robotics shoe factory. He found a product line that needs 50 to 80 workers. If we use German automated robot to produce, we only need 3 engineers.
However, until today, children Shuishun factory did not use automated robots to replace workers. Although he knows the transformation and upgrading is the trend of the situation, the upgrade is related to whether the enterprise has enough capital. "The cost of automated robots now too high to be reached, we couldn't afford it."
Xie Qingyuan also expressed the same point of view. "For our traditional manufacturing industry, there is no way to be in place at all."
The reason why Tong Shuishun chose to continue to work is because he thought that in the 2025-2030 years, some of the shoemaking enterprises will return to mainland China, and the mainland's domestic market will flourish. With the large-scale use of automation robots in the future, the cost of purchase will also be greatly reduced. He said, in this case there must be a "desperate" perseverance.