RENTS ONLY $1-3 PER MONTH
By Bob Van Leer

  (SHANGHAI, CHINA, Oct. 9, 1991) - Our guides wanted to show us some of China at work so we started the day with a tour of Shanghai Textile Factory No. 12, proceeded from there to Wen Hui Bao, a million circulation Chinese daily newspaper and finished the day with a trip in the evening to an acrobatic show.

  The factory was huge, 100,000 squares meters in size, and employs 8000 workers in three shifts, 65 percent female. The shift arrangement struck us a strange, two days on the day shift, two days on the swing shift, two days on the graveyard shift and then two days off.

  Mr. Shai, factory master (this was what he was called), said 90 percent of the production of the factory is for export, much of it to the U.S.

  The factory produces yarn, fabrics and shoes. It is a big business doing $50 million per year, but production is only $6300 per worker per year. Wages are low, 3500 yuan per year or about $13.00 per week.

  But this is not comparable with U.S. pay. The factory provides some subsidies and so does the government. Rents for apartments range from $1.00-$3.00 per month. Later we saw a newspaper story complaining because rents do not cover the cost of building maintenance.     

  The factory has a seperate building that provides child care from infants through kindergarten. Parents pay only the cost of food for the children.

  We toured the child care area and the kids were well-cared for. Watching a room full of little China dolls practice with hula hoops was a heart-warming sight. They were round-eyed and shy with us. They don't see many westerners.

Tight Social Control

  Medical care is paid 100 percent for the employee and 50 percent for dependents. There is tight social control. If a worker develops bad habits (drinking, gambling etc.) a factory workers subcommittee first talks with the worker.

  If this doesn't do the job, the subcommittee goes home with the employee and talks with the family. This kind of pressure would be more effective than any lecture from the boss.

  The factory was built by the Japanese before liberation. Machinery was mostly old but well maintained. The plant was clean and well cared for. The factory appeared to be a rather pleasant place to work.

  Employees were good-humored and friendly. The government takes 55 percent of profits and management, with the advice of a factory committee, is allowed to manage the rest.

  In recent years the factory has built a smaller factory in Jamaica in the Caribbean to take advantage of more favorable treatment by U.S. Customs. Products from there are not included in the Chinese quota. The manager volunteered the Jamaica factory had trouble with the U.S. Lately being charged with shipping goods from the No. 12 factory through the Jamaica plant making an end run around U.S. Quotas.

  But he assured us it was all a misunderstanding.

Newspaper Visit

  The newspaper, Wen Hui Bao, was founded in 1938 "under the direct leadership of the Communist Party of Shanghai". It limits itself to eight pages daily but has a million circulation all over China and foreign countries. It has a total of seven printing plants with some computer transmission to satellite plants.

  Most of the paper's revenue comes from advertising which is the same as with capitalist newspapers. A difference is it takes 60 days to get an ad in if you want one.

  Typesetting is by computer with the U.S. Standard "qwerty" keyboard used. We were told that words were typed in with their Roman alphabet spelling.

  The screen then displays one or more Chinese characters that have this spelling and the proper one is selected.

  Our host, Mr. Liu, said it is necessary to memorize about 5000 characters to be able to read and write Chinese.

  The newspaper has a recreation lounge for its employees complete with a bar and disco.
The acrobatic show was a circus-type entertainment with the most memorable being a young man who could fold himself and pack himself in a barrel that really shouldn't have been able to hold him.

  Random notes about Shanghai: Hundreds, maybe thousands of people standing in line to buy a postal commemorative stamp; housing a big problem, less than 6 square meters per person and the government wants to increase this to 8 square meters by the mid-1990s; The government owns 90 percent of the houses; personal income of government officials in the 200-300 yuan per month range; Chinese can't move their residence easily, it is necessary to get permission from a city before moving there; Most big business is government-owned but small shops are mostly privately owned; the distribution system has serious flaws, we saw a line of trucks perhaps a mile long waiting to unload; English is used extensively, street names are in English as well as Chinese and many business names are also translated.

  Our stay in Shanghai is now over and we have to get up at 5:15 a.m. to catch a flight to Beijing, our next stop.