Submitted By: Joe Callinan

There are 1.3 billion people in China and that number is expected to increase by 300 million over the next 25 years. Many of these Chinese are uneducated, poor and as the last few posts have mentioned, without health insurance. They are employed at unbelievably low rates that barely allow them to survive. As if this wasn’t bad enough, the Chinese government has recently begun encouraging its domestic companies to move towards mechanization by offering tax breaks for the purchase of domestically manufactured production lines. This mechanization will result in fewer jobs for an increasing number of people which will most likely result in an increase in the income gap between the rich and the poor and social unrest.

While you read this article posted in the China Daily here are a few questions to think about:

What can China do to prevent a social uprising?

Is the Chinese government responsible for improving the scientific literacy of the poor and the farmers?

How does this article relate to the Professor Ramezani’s presentation on Chinese financial markets?

As Chinese companies search for more skilled workers, would you consider working in China? Will Chinese companies look to other countries to fulfill these positions or will they limit their search to the domestic market?

What country will be the next big provider of cheap labor?

A number of you did your book reviews on Jame’s McGregor’s One Billion Customers. McGregor is the former China Bureau Chief for the Wall Street Journal.

Here’s a podcast of an interview with him from the Danwei blog you may find of interest. I liked his book, very much, and agree with the CLB, though, that much of it is only really applicable to the big MNCs in China.