Gaungzhou, China

by Patrick Martino

I enter the Middle Kingdom and discover the new face of China

Aug 12, 2005

I entered China today. At long last I have made it to the middle kingdom. From the border crossing I took a bus to Guangzhou. From Hong Kong to Guangzhou it is one immense factory. Imagine nothing but factory buildings for 137 kilometers. The region around Hong Kong and Guangzhou is one of the most industrial in China. It is the new manufacturing center of the world. It’s shocking. Absolutely shocking how much stuff gets made here. You hear about industry moving to China but I really never realized the scope until I saw it today.

I was impressed by Guangzhou despite the gray smoggy air. I was imagining a Hanoi a Bangkok a disorganized mess with stray dogs on the street, garbage, traffic that knows no traffic rules. I found the exact opposite. Massive highways with on ramps and off ramps, clean streets, modern busses, cross walks, 711–s on the corner, five star hotels, a massive new convention center the size of an airport. China is moving fast, bloody fast. Watch out America and the world because China has the resources, the people, and the infrastructure. All they need is a little more time and they will be neck and neck with the west for economic dominance.

I am staying with my friend Andy and his fiancé. Andy and I studied at the same university in Taiwan. He picked me up from the bus station. He has a unique look into the Chinese economy because he works for a Chinese company. It is rare for a westerner to work for a Chinese company. Usually westerners will work for a multinational. He is the companies sales manager. They sell lasers and stage equipment for what you might see at a rolling stones concert.

I met his very nice and beautiful wife and we went to dinner and we became immersed in talk about the rise of China.

I asked Andy point blank, “Does western manufacturing have a chance to compete against China.”

“Non” he said. It didn’t even take him one second to respond. “The labor is nearly inexhaustible. We have maybe 500 workers at our plant. They work practically non stop and we’re still maybe 200 short because making lasers is relatively high tech. It’s skilled.”

“So how much do you pay workers.” I asked “Workers make maybe 600 a month. We are thinking of increasing that to 1000 a month because its skilled work and it’s a pain to replace people. You have to retrain.”

The exchange rate in China is currently 8.1 yuan to the US dollar. 600 yuan a month is $74.07

“So how can the west compete?” I was curious.

“They can’t. Not in manufacturing. It’s like what happened to England in the 70’s. You have to increasingly shift over to the service industries because forget it if you want to make anything.”