{"id":9512,"date":"2015-02-25T19:30:46","date_gmt":"2015-02-18T19:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinaworker.info\/?p=9512"},"modified":"2015-02-19T04:26:37","modified_gmt":"2015-02-18T20:26:37","slug":"chinese-new-year-highlights-extreme-class-divisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/02\/25\/9512\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese New Year highlights extreme class divisions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Four billionaires \u2018created\u2019 every week while workers fight to collect their wages<\/strong><\/p>\n

chinaworker.info<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s biggest annual migration is under way with the majority of China\u2019s 270 million migrant workers making their way home to provinces\u00a0far from the cities where they live and work. According to official data more than 2.8 billion trips will be made in the next few weeks as China celebrates the arrival of the Year of the Goat. But while primarily\u00a0a time of family reunions and celebrations, the holiday period also casts a light on social divisions\u00a0and the extremes of wealth and poverty\u00a0in modern China.<\/p>\n

For the wealthy, despite a shakier economy over the past year, things have never been better. China\u2019s 25 richest people have increased the value of their personal fortunes by a staggering 21.3 billion US dollars over the past six weeks. That is just the increase they have banked since 1 January according to a report from Bloomberg. To put this sum in perspective, the UN estimates that an additional 30 billion US dollars yearly would provide access to safe water to the entire planet. Diseases linked to unsafe drinking water kill an estimated 6,000 people per day worldwide. Vast areas of rural China also\u00a0suffer from severe water pollution.<\/p>\n

\"Migrant<\/a>
Migrant workers in the shadow of empty apartment blocks.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The surge in wealth for China\u2019s super-rich is a result of the stock market boom \u2013 \u2018niu shi<\/em>\u2019 \u2013 engineered by the policies of the so-called \u2018Communist\u2019 Party (CCP) dictatorship. With looser monetary policies and regulatory changes\u00a0to\u00a0favour financial speculation, the main Shanghai share index rose 60 percent during the Lunar Year of the Horse. The stock markets will be closed for a\u00a0week during the Chinese New Year holiday but, based on \u2018hot money\u2019 flooding in, the stock market bubble is set to inflate further \u2013 before an inevitable correction.<\/p>\n

Bloomberg News reports that the stock market boom and a string of initial public offerings (IPOs) created two dozen new dollar billionaires in China since the start of 2015. That\u2019s an average of four new billionaires per\u00a0week. The owners of an airline, a video-game developer and a chain of pharmacies are among this new financial elite.<\/p>\n

Upturn in strikes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yet for millions of workers in China the past few weeks have been especially tough, with an increase in conflicts over unpaid wages. As the economy slows and former boom industries like mining and construction encounter hard times, the number of workers\u2019 protests and strikes has tripled compared to the levels of one\u00a0year ago, according to independent estimates. Non-payment of wages is\u00a0one of the most common triggers of disputes.<\/p>\n

The gigantic construction sector has been a particular flashpoint with its 40 million workforce comprised mostly of migrants employed in a crazy chain\u00a0of sub-contracting companies\u00a0who generally pay salaries once a year \u2013 just prior to the Chinese New Year. Almost one-third of\u00a0strikes currently breaking out in China are\u00a0in the construction sector. In early February, construction workers in Kunming blocked a main road and held up banners demanding a property developer handover their wages \u2013 earned with \u201cblood and sweat,\u201d according to reports on social media. Dozens of similar protests have taken place in recent weeks. Some\u00a0recent conflicts over unpaid wages have led to fatalities as reported from Guangxi and Shanxi provinces.\u00a0The latter case\u00a0attracted nationwide attention on social media. Zhou Xiuyun, the mother of a construction worker, was killed by police during a protest over wage arrears in December.<\/p>\n

A 2014 study by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences found that 8 percent of migrant workers complained of being owed wages in the preceding year. This study found that half of these workers, or 4.3 percent of the total, said they had taken part in \u201cmass incidents\u201d (the official term\u00a0for strikes and demonstrations) to pursue their wage arrears. These percentages, if reflective of the whole country, translate into 21.6 million and 11.6 million workers respectively.<\/p>\n

The Great Wall separating rich from poor in China is highlighted by the stellar rise of\u00a0construction company shares on the stock market \u2013 jumping 63 percent in the final month of 2014 \u2013 while construction\u00a0workers are forced into sometimes desperate measures\u00a0to obtain their hard-earned pay.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A left-behind child in Yunnan province.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018Left-behind children\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

A heartrending feature of the Lunar New Year holidays is the plight of China\u2019s 70 million \u2018left-behind children\u2019 (liu shou er tong)<\/em>. Through poverty and discriminatory laws they are forcibly separated from their migrant worker parents for most of the year. The start of the holidays mean that, as the Financial Times commented, \u201ctens of millions of migrant children are just about to spend a week with their parents \u2013 and then say goodbye to them for another year. The Chinese dream is a tough taskmaster.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hukou<\/em> system, which\u00a0divides the population between privileged \u2018urban\u2019 households and underprivileged \u2018rural\u2019 households, means that rural children are blocked from attending most urban schools. Many live with their grandparents or other family members, others are placed in boarding schools which have recently attracted widespread media criticism. \u201cStudents were often locked in classrooms for long periods to study by themselves,\u201d Caixin reported from one such school.<\/p>\n

Almost 50 percent of left-behind children suffer from depression and anxiety, compared with 30 percent of their urban counterparts, according to a 2014 study funded by the Heilongjiang provincial government. \u201cLeft-behind children usually have inferiority complexes, lower self-esteem and lower confidence,\u201d the study\u2019s chief researcher reported.<\/p>\n

As China\u2019s economy slows sharply \u2013 a process that is only partially revealed by official statistics \u2013 the working class will face new hardships and challenges in the Year of the Goat. Collective struggle and steps\u00a0to build independent workers\u2019 organisations show the way ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Four billionaires \u2018created\u2019 every week while workers fight to collect their wages chinaworker.info The world\u2019s biggest annual migration is under way with the majority of China\u2019s 270 million migrant workers making their way home to provinces\u00a0far from the cities where they live and work. According to official data more than 2.8 billion trips will be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":9514,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[132,124],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9512","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-china","8":"category-news"},"yoast_head":"\nChinese New Year highlights extreme class divisions - China Worker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/02\/25\/9512\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chinese New Year highlights extreme class divisions - China Worker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Four billionaires \u2018created\u2019 every week while workers fight to collect their wages chinaworker.info The world\u2019s biggest annual migration is under way with the majority of China\u2019s 270 million migrant workers making their way home to provinces\u00a0far from the cities where they live and work. According to official data more than 2.8 billion trips will be […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/02\/25\/9512\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"China Worker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SocialistAction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-02-18T19:50:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-02-18T20:26:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2015\/02\/china_crowd_city_3200968c.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"460\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"287\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/25\\\/9512\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/25\\\/9512\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Chinese New Year highlights extreme class divisions\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-02-18T19:50:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-02-18T20:26:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/25\\\/9512\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":965,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/25\\\/9512\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/china_crowd_city_3200968c.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"China\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/25\\\/9512\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/25\\\/9512\\\/\",\"name\":\"Chinese New Year highlights extreme class divisions - China Worker\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/25\\\/9512\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/25\\\/9512\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/china_crowd_city_3200968c.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-02-18T19:50:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-02-18T20:26:37+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/25\\\/9512\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/25\\\/9512\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/25\\\/9512\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/china_crowd_city_3200968c.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/china_crowd_city_3200968c.jpg\",\"width\":460,\"height\":287},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/25\\\/9512\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u9996\u9801\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Chinese New Year highlights extreme class divisions\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"\u793e\u6703\u4e3b\u7fa9\u884c\u52d5\",\"description\":\"Solidarity, Struggle, Socialism\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Chinaworker.info\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/logo-sa.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/logo-sa.png\",\"width\":120,\"height\":126,\"caption\":\"Chinaworker.info\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/SocialistAction\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/socialistactionhk\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/author\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chinese New Year highlights extreme class divisions - China Worker","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/02\/25\/9512\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chinese New Year highlights extreme class divisions - China Worker","og_description":"Four billionaires \u2018created\u2019 every week while workers fight to collect their wages chinaworker.info The world\u2019s biggest annual migration is under way with the majority of China\u2019s 270 million migrant workers making their way home to provinces\u00a0far from the cities where they live and work. According to official data more than 2.8 billion trips will be […]","og_url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/02\/25\/9512\/","og_site_name":"China Worker","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SocialistAction","article_published_time":"2015-02-18T19:50:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-02-18T20:26:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":460,"height":287,"url":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2015\/02\/china_crowd_city_3200968c.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/02\/25\/9512\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/02\/25\/9512\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Chinese New Year highlights extreme class divisions","datePublished":"2015-02-18T19:50:10+00:00","dateModified":"2015-02-18T20:26:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/02\/25\/9512\/"},"wordCount":965,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/02\/25\/9512\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2015\/02\/china_crowd_city_3200968c.jpg","articleSection":["China","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/02\/25\/9512\/","url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/02\/25\/9512\/","name":"Chinese New Year highlights extreme class divisions - China Worker","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/02\/25\/9512\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/02\/25\/9512\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2015\/02\/china_crowd_city_3200968c.jpg","datePublished":"2015-02-18T19:50:10+00:00","dateModified":"2015-02-18T20:26:37+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/02\/25\/9512\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/02\/25\/9512\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/02\/25\/9512\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2015\/02\/china_crowd_city_3200968c.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2015\/02\/china_crowd_city_3200968c.jpg","width":460,"height":287},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/02\/25\/9512\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u9996\u9801","item":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chinese New Year highlights extreme class divisions"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/","name":"\u793e\u6703\u4e3b\u7fa9\u884c\u52d5","description":"Solidarity, Struggle, Socialism","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#organization","name":"Chinaworker.info","url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2021\/04\/logo-sa.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2021\/04\/logo-sa.png","width":120,"height":126,"caption":"Chinaworker.info"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SocialistAction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/socialistactionhk\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/author\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}