Pearl River Delta - A Special Economic Zone (SEZ)

The Pearl River Delta (PRD) region is the area which experiences the concentration of substantial inflow of foreign investments into China and is the centre of China’s new industrial revolution. In early 2003, it is estimated that the region was drawing in $1 billion worth of investment and producing $10 billion worth of exports monthly.
 
PRD is located in the Guangdong province and is the low-lying area of the Pearl River estuary where the Pearl River drains into the South China Sea.

Economic hotspots in the PRD include Shunde, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Zhuhai and Guangzhou.

Shenzhen is responsible for the production of 70% of the world’s photocopiers and 80% of the world’s artifical Christmas trees. For instance, the Japanese company Ricoh, makes most of  its photocopiers in Shenzhen. In 2002, the port of Shenzhen overtook Rotterdam and Los Angeles to become the world’s sixth largest container terminal. It is also the global purchasing centre for Kingfisher and Wal-Mart, which scoured $10 billion of goods from China in 2002 in all.
Guangzhou houses the export-only Honda car plant and nearly 70 of the top 500 transnational corporations are represented in the Guangzhou Development Zone.

Despite the strong economic growth in the PRD, there are also certain concerns over its future prosperity. There are increasing environmental pollution, in particular, water and air quality. The entire delta is heavily polluted and the worst problems are experienced in Guangzhou. In addition, with intense competition between different urban areas to attract industrial development and real estate development, there had been little concern over the environmental aspects and the loss of agricultural lands as a result of such developments.

Labour Strikes in China

 

The strike at Honda Auto Parts Manufacturing in Guangdong had been ongoing since May 17, 2010, and this may serve as a timely reminder of the social strains brought about by China being the ‘world’s factory’.

Workers demanded for increases in their wages in the southern city of Foshan and these movements put operations at Honda’s four automobile assembly plants to a halt. Thousands of workers left the assembly plants and participated in strikes to pressure the company for hikes in their wages, which currently stand at an average of 1,500 yuan per month.

On June 1, 2010, Honda proposed a 24% wage rise to the workers to end the strikes that had been thrust into the limelight, bringing to attention labour unrest issues in one of the world’s largest economy. Most of the workers are agreeable to the new wages offered by Honda, which would raise their monthly incomes to 1,910 yuan,  far exceeding that of China’s legal minimum wage pegged at 920 yuan per month.