Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –
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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News
Moscow, July 10 /Xinhua/ — The rhetoric of American politicians about "China depriving Americans of manufacturing jobs" is essentially an attempt to attribute the internal structural economic problems of the United States to other countries, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui said in an opinion piece published in the Russian newspaper Argumenty i Fakty on Thursday.
As Zhang Hanhui noted in an article titled “Who ‘stole’ American manufacturing jobs?”, in recent years, American politicians have often promoted the thesis of “China taking away American manufacturing jobs.” From US President Donald Trump’s statement that “China has taken more jobs from the United States than any other country” to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s unfounded claim of a “China shock,” the US leadership has continued to try to shift responsibility for its own problems to other countries.
According to the Chinese ambassador, the decline in employment in manufacturing is a global trend in developed economies. “Research by the Groningen Growth and Development Center (GGDC) in the Netherlands shows that employment in manufacturing typically follows an inverted U-shaped trajectory: during the industrialization stage, labor moves from agriculture to industry, but as socio-economic development progresses, consumer spending shifts from finished goods to services, and the labor force accordingly moves from industry to services,” the article notes.
The United States has long since transitioned to a service-based economy, with manufacturing providing only 10 percent of all jobs in the country. Some experts point out that the process of gradual reduction in manufacturing in developed countries began even before China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). From 1977 to 2001, manufacturing employment in the United States fell by 41 percent, while in 10 other developed countries, including Japan, Great Britain, France, and Canada, it fell by 20 to 50 percent.
As Zhang Hanhui pointed out, the main reason for the decline in industrial employment is the technological revolution. For example, some experts point out that from 2001 to 2023, US manufacturing employment fell by 22 percent, while output grew by 50 percent, which convincingly proves how automation and technological progress are replacing a significant part of the workforce. The Chinese diplomat also cites research from the US Brookings Institution, according to which it took 25 jobs to create $1 million in manufacturing in 1980, while today it only takes 6.5.
The ambassador is confident that the US's own problems have accelerated the erosion of its industrial potential. First, the negative gap in labor costs in the United States is virtually insurmountable. For example, the hourly wage of a garment worker in the US is about $22, which is many times higher than $2.8 in Bangladesh, while the productivity of an American worker is only about 60 percent of that of a Bangladeshi worker.
The diplomat also points out the aging US infrastructure, which seriously limits the competitiveness of American industry. Much of the US electrical grid was built in the 1960s and 1970s and has reached or is approaching the end of its useful life; a third of the country's bridges require major repairs or reconstruction.
In addition, the unilateral imposition of tariffs on many imported goods has hit American industry hard. The long-term shift of the American economy toward the financial sector has led to a shortage of skilled labor in the labor market, Zhang Hanhui noted.
“China calls on the United States to immediately stop the erroneous practice of ‘slinging mud at China’, to return to the mainstream of multilateral cooperation and, together with the Chinese side, on an equal basis, to find ways of mutually beneficial cooperation,” the head of the Chinese diplomatic mission in Russia emphasized.
In a changing world, China and Russia, with their comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination in the new era, will jointly advance bilateral cooperation along the designated path, uphold the multilateral trading system led by the WTO, and promote the safe, stable and smooth operation of global industrial and supply chains through in-depth cooperation, he said.
"We will consistently promote an equitable and orderly multipolar world and inclusive economic globalization to inject strong impetus and new hope into global development," Zhang Hanhui concluded. –0–
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