The Relationship of Labour and Capital

Abstract

The new diaspora capitalists have obtained their wealth in China from organising the labour and selling the products of an even newer working class. Scarcely any of their employees have come to them from the established urban state sector. Guangdong and Fujian were largely agricultural at the start of the reform era and large numbers of peasants moved into rural industries. As the economy continued to expand, these proved insufficient, and those who had gained some industrial experience were in demand for supervisory, clerical and specialised positions and became less willing to accept the pay and conditions of factory production jobs. A majority of employees of our survey firms were in fact migratory workers from less industrialised parts of Guangdong and Fujian and from poorer inland provinces. Less than ten per cent of enterprises in Nanhai, Panyu or Xiamen did not employ migratory workers and even in Quanzhou the proportion was under a fifth. Overall 47 per cent of survey enterprises drew more than half their workers from other provinces.