| Crowd at horse fight |
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| MCDONELL: The horses of Antai village are being prepared for battle. There’s a big crowd in, and barely a vantage point left to get a glimpse of today’s highlight. | 00:16 |
| Horses fighting | Music | 00:29 |
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| MCDONELL: The sight of two stallions induced into fighting over a mare simply for entertainment would appal many people, but life can be tough in the mountains of Guangxi and there’s little room for sentimentality here. Apart from tradition, it’s also a pleasant diversion from the trying economic circumstances closing in on these farmers. | 00:38 |
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| Music | 01:05 |
| Train passes over farmland |
| 01:15 |
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| MCDONELL: A few years ago it would have been hard to imagine that events on Wall Street could affect life in this mountain village, but even here the world financial crisis is being felt. At this time throughout rural China, one hundred and thirty million people leave their farms to return only briefly every twelve months. In the cities they’ll become what’s known as ‘migrant workers’. | 01:28 |
| Wei Sanche on motorbike | WEI SANCHE: ‘There are over 2000 people in our village. About 700 of them go to Guandong looking for jobs. | 02:00 |
| Wei Sanche | The older people stay at home working in the cane fields.’ | 02:14 |
| Wei Sanche working in field | Music | 02:20 |
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| MCDONELL: In China a farmer can earn around $275 a year. If they leave to go and work in manufacturing, this will become more like $1800 a year. They can never own the land they work, because here land belongs to the State, but if a farmer goes to the city to look for a job, they can lease out the right to use their farm. | 02:26 |
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| Fifty-three year old Wei Sanche doesn’t have a problem with the young people leaving. | 02:54 |
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| WEI SANCHE: ‘We are not sad. They go to Guandong to make some money and improve the lives of us older people back at home. | 03:01 |
| Wei Sanche | We can use the money to buy houses. We’re happy.’ | 03:15 |
| Workers in field | MCDONELL: But the villagers know that many factories have closed down and that this year it will be much harder for their people to find work. We’ll be travelling with them to see how they go. | 03:23 |
| Ext. Train station | Music | 03:36 |
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| MCDONELL: Migrant workers from all around this region arrive at the local train station. | 03:42 |
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| Music | 03:47 |
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| MCDONELL: Though there are many industrial cities, Guandong Province in the south is their main destination. For some it’s still a great adventure. | 03:51 |
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| YOUNG CHINESE MAN AT STATION: That area is developed and young people want to see the outside world. | 04:03 |
| Young man | I want to go there and have a look. If I can find a good job I’ll stay there – if not, I’ll come back.’ | 04:08 |
| Men at railway station | Music | 04:14 |
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| MCDONELL: Yet for most, there’s really only one compelling reason to make this journey. | 04:15 |
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| MAN AT STATION: ‘It’s to earn a living, isn’t it? | 04:23 |
| Man in leather jacket at railway station | We go there for work. We are poor, so we go there to get jobs.’ MCDONELL: ‘What are your expectations in going there for work?’ MAN AT STATION: ‘We just go. We’ve got no expectations.’ | 04:24 |
| People hauling bags up steps | Music | 04:40 |
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| MCDONELL: The willingness to leave is one thing, but actually getting out of here is another. | 04:45 |
| People waiting | There are many more people than places and you can wait here for days to get on a train. | 04:50 |
| Onboard train | Despite the economic downturn there are still plenty of rural workers boarding this train in search of a better life. The tickets are pretty hard to come by - and the cheapest, they entitle you to stand up all the way on the 16 hour journey. | 04:59 |
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| Music | 05:14 |
| Train passes | MCDONELL: China’s enormous rail system moves tens of millions of migrant workers to industrial centres in a little over a week. | 15:19 |
| People on train | This annual mobilisation delivers the workforce, which has made the country’s manufacturing miracle possible, but twenty million of the jobs done by these blue collar workers have disappeared over the last year according to one government estimate. | 05:31 |
| Passing scenery at sunset | Music | 05:56 |
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| MCDONELL: As the train moves through the night, at every new station it’s the same story – | 05:59 |
| Night platform shots – more people pushing to get on board | more and more rural workers race along the platform to get on board. | 06:05 |
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| Music | 06:13 |
| Crowds surge off train | MCDONELL: It’s not until we arrive in Guangzhou that you realise how many workers we’ve picked up along the way. The crowd surges out and into their uncertain city life. | 06:20 |
| Air pollution in Dongguan/Skyline/ Deng billboard | Welcome to the Pearl River Delta, forty thousand heavily polluted square kilometres stretching from Hong Kong to Guangzhou. Hundreds of thousands of enterprises, big and small, legal and illegal, the Chinese call this ‘The World’s Factory’. This was the birthplace of China’s new economy. In the 1980’s, former leader Deng Xiaoping granted it special economic status and from here the capitalist revolution would spread. | 06:39 |
| Xiong Yan | XIONG YAN: ‘I like this place a lot.’ MCDONELL: ‘Why?’ XIONG YAN: ‘It’s a kind of feeling. I really like it. It’s prettier than my home, so I like it here.’ | 07:23 |
| Xiong Yan walks | MCDONELL: Here we meet twenty two year old Xiong Yan. She lost her job last year when the factory she worked in slashed staff numbers. Back in the mountain village, her father broke his arm recently. His treatment cost more than what she can earn in a year. She has to find work. | 07:40 |
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| XIONG YAN: ‘My family is poor. | 08:03 |
| Xiong Yan | Usually I’ll send them my salary. I’ll use a little bit of my pay for living expenses and save the rest to send back to support my family.’ | 08:06 |
| Job seekers at employment agency | MCDONELL: Xiong Yan pays this large employment agency the equivalent of half a week’s salary for a month of job searching and every day there are many thousands more people like her who come to sign up. There’s a sense of urgency in the job-hunting here. Most people only have enough money to survive for a matter of weeks. If the money runs out and they have no job, it’s mission failure. | 08:19 |
| Xiong Yan at employment agency | XIONG YAN: ‘Too many people are looking for jobs now. It’s quite competitive. | 08:53 |
| Xiong Yan | It’s going to get harder and harder.’ | 09:01 |
| Xiong Yan at employment agency | MCDONELL: Xiong Yan thinks she might have found a job she can get. At the service desk they screen her to see if she’s suitable, checking her job history. A telephone call to the company will determine if she gets an interview. She waits anxiously. | 09:05 |
| Xiong Yan leaves employment agency with McDonnell | MCDONELL: ‘Have you found a possible job?’ XIONG YAN: ‘Yes.’ MCDONELL: ‘What kind of company is it?’ XIONG YAN: ‘An electrical wire company.’ MCDONELL: ‘How do you rate your chances?’ XIONG YAN: ‘Very good.’ MCDONELL: ‘Very good, eh? Did they give you an interview?’ XIONG YAN: ‘Yes, this afternoon at two o’clock.’ MCDONELL: ‘Well let’s go then.’ | 09:25 |
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| Music | 09:43 |
| Xiong Yan walks to the company | MCDONELL: There’s added pressure on Xiong Yan knowing that her family is relying on her. Though she says she’s confident, it’s a job using a computer program that in reality she’s not used to. | 09:48 |
| Factory window | Inside the factory she’s questioned and tested for two hours. She re-emerges and it doesn’t look too good. | 10:08 |
| Xiong Yan exits company | She re-emerges and it doesn’t look too good. | 10:16 |
| Xiong Yan with McDonnell | MCDONELL: ‘So what’s the result?’ XIONG YAN: ‘They said they’ll let me know. “Let me know” means I’ve failed. MCDONELL: ‘Does it? Why?’ XIONG YAN: ‘It’s my fault. I’m not good enough. | 10:22 |
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| Their requirements are high. | 10:40 |
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| I’m a bit sad. MCDONELL: ‘Why?’ XIONG YAN: ‘Because I really tried. I think this was a very good job. It’s what I want…but I’ve lost it. I’m sad.’ | 10:45 |
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| MCDONELL: 2009 has turned the tables on China’s migrant workers. | 11:07 |
| Workers outside factories | Up until a year ago, things were starting to look up. The manufacturing business was booming and because of a labour shortage, companies were finally having to offer more money to attract workers. DR LIU KAIMING: ‘For a long time the salaries of migrant workers have been incredibly low. | 11:14 |
| Dr Liu | With no social security, healthcare, or education rights in the city. That’s left them very poor.’ | 11:36 |
| Dr Liu in meeting | MCDONELL: Dr Liu Kaiming’s NGO specialises in migrant workers. He says employers and government officials have deliberately kept workers poor for the sake of the economy. His work is bringing him close to getting into serious trouble here. | 11:44 |
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| DR LIU KAIMING: ‘The main reason migrant workers can’t change their fate is that China’s current government policy | 12:03 |
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| is to systematically exploit these farmers.’ | 12:09 |
| Workers inside the Kinox Factory | Music | 12:18 |
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| MCDONELL: But China’s rulers know this has created an ever wider income gap. They turned a blind eye to it for a long time because the country was drunk on economic prosperity, but it was decided that enough was enough and last year new laws were introduced to protect the poorest workers. Meanwhile, there was trouble brewing overseas. There were lots of different jobs on offer here, but for every one of these jobs there are plenty of applicants. | 12:24 |
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| In a case of bad timing, the Chinese Government’s new provisions to help low paid workers have coincided with the World Economic Crisis. Many employers have complained about this additional cost in tough times, so go to meet the boss of a large manufacturing company to see what he thinks. | 13:03 |
| McDonnell with Cliff Sun in factory | Cliff Sun from Hong Kong is the Managing Director of Kinox Enterprises which makes kitchenware, like coffee pots. Because 96% of his products are exported, he’s particularly exposed to the current crisis. He’s trying to sell into the local market but his goods are a bit too expensive for China. Sun says he can’t believe the Government has gone ahead with new provisions to protect workers in the current climate. | 13:27 |
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| CLIFF SUN: ‘If a company would want to dismiss twenty persons or ten per cent of their workforce, whichever is less, | 13:56 |
| Cliff Sun. Super: | then they have to give notice to the workers one month in advance.’ MCDONELL: ‘Do you think this is reasonable?’ CLIFF SUN: ‘It is not.’ | 14:04 |
| Train passes | MCDONELL: Sun says his orders from Australia, America and Europe are down by thirty per cent | 14:13 |
| Kinox factory workers | and that he’s had to cut staff numbers by ten per cent. Under the new laws, a sacked employee gets a month’s salary for every year worked. Also a worker must become full time after two fixed term contracts. Cliff Sun says employees have a greater voice than employers at the moment and that this is putting enormous pressure on the bosses of the Pearl River Delta. CLIFF SUN: ‘Unfortunately | 14:21 |
| Cliff Sun | this was legislated when the economy was so good and everybody would think yeah, the employers should pay a little more, you know they should not be so greedy.’ | 14:53 |
| Dr Liu | DR LIU KAIMING: ‘The businessmen’s complaints are absolutely groundless. China’s been implementing policies favouring businessmen rather than workers. China’s been focussing on the interests of capitalists and economic development, ignoring workers’ rights and the implementation of the labour law.’ | 15:04 |
| Int. Empty factory | MCDONELL: Whoever’s right in this debate, the Government has stood firm on the new labour laws at a time when the stress on manufacturing is there to be seen. | 15:29 |
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| This place used to make bicycles for export until it closed last year and all around Guandong this is what you’ll find - big empty factories available for lease. | 15:40 |
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| The funny thing is that the locals see an up-side to the current situation - if you want to get your hands on some cheap factory space, now’s the time to do it.’ | 15:53 |
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| For the companies who have survived, there are other benefits emerging from this crisis. | 16:06 |
| Cliff Sun. Super: | CLIFF SUN: ‘The people who have been working for us in the last years, we will not be able to lower their salary, no, but the new ones we are recruiting, we may offer them terms less attractive than we used to offer.’ | 16:15 |
| Office buildings | MCDONELL: Into this mix of businesses closing, lower pay and higher unemployment, | 16:31 |
| Quanshou walks to crowd and receives applause | steps the man nicknamed the Migrant Worker’s General. Zhang Quanshou was once a migrant worker himself and now runs this labour supply company. | 16:36 |
| Addresses crowd with microphone | ZHANG QUANSHOU: [Addressing group of people] ‘Eyes right! Eyes front! Attention! Turn right!’ | 16:52 |
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| MCDONELL: Migrant workers, mostly in their twenties, come here to find work and they get a fair dose of the boot camp treatment on arrival. ZHANG QUANSHOU: ‘Hello Comrades! GROUP: ‘Hello Boss!’ | 17:03 |
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| ZHANG QUANSHOU: [To crowd] ‘This year the global economic crisis has made it hard for migrant workers to get jobs. Comrades, don’t worry. You need to have faith that it’s going to get better for all of us. | 17:21 |
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| [to McDonnell] They’ll have work to do, and food to eat, and they’ll make money. I’m asking them to trust me. Because I’m encouraging them, I’ve got to keep my word. I’ve got to find work for them. | 17:37 |
| McDonell and Quanshou | MCDONELL: For them… this year, compared to last year? ZHANG QUANSHOU: Much worse. MCDONELL: Much worse? ZHANG QUANSHOU: Yes. Last year my company had over 10,000 workers. This year we have only 5,000 or 6,000, and 3,000 or 4,000 of them have found work. Over 1,000 workers have no jobs. | 17:55 |
| Girls washing hair | MCDONELL: The General’s workers get free board and meals here, even if he hasn’t found them a job. He’ll take a cut of their salary once they start getting paid. | 18:14 |
| Girls’ dormitory | YOUNG CHINESE WOMAN AT CAMP: ‘We don’t miss home. We’re a big family. We kill time by chatting and having fun together. | 18:29 |
| Two girls in blue | We hang out together and the company’s facilities are good.’ | 18:40 |
| Workers line up to get lunch | MCDONELL: In an uncertain time they feel like they have some protection here. The food that’s served is what these young workers eat back at home. It’s a bit of comfort. The General is now a delegate to China’s annual session of Parliament. He’s become a man with connections. In China that means he’s well placed to stitch up business deals. | 18:48 |
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| ZHANG QUANSHOU: ‘They’ll have to wait here for a while but gradually they’ll get work. It’s only a matter of time.’ | 19:15 |
| Workers in line. Young workers lining up to leave | MCDONELL: And sure enough, teams of workers are seen forming up in lines. Without any great fanfare, those who’ve been found a job grab their things and head out the front gate. The buses are waiting to take them to their new factory homes. It’s this peaceful resolution to the current crisis that the Government is hoping to see more of. | 19:24 |
| Polluted cityscape | Music | 19:54 |
| People on streets | MCDONELL: What they fear is something else. There’s an unspoken pact between the Chinese people and their leaders. The Government delivers an ever improving economy and the people don’t pour back into Tianamen Square to protest. That’s why officials have declared that the country’s economic growth rate can’t be allowed to fall below eight per cent to avoid any form of social instability. | 19:56 |
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| DR LIU KAIMING: The biggest threat is that unemployed migrant workers may start to protest against the government, challenge the legitimacy of the government and even ask the government and the Communist Party to step down. | 20:27 |
| Dr Liu | MCDONELL: What’s the chance of this actually happening? DR LIU KAIMING: About a 30% chance. The probable result is that these threats won’t happen. But there is a 30% chance that a mass incident like 1989 will occur. | 20:41 |
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| MCDONELL: Of course this could all be avoided if the Chinese Government’s eight hundred billion dollar stimulus package boosts local demand enough. | 21:05 |
| Trucks | The strategy is to get the wheels of commerce moving by freeing up loans, bringing forward infrastructure projects and encouraging Chinese people to start spending more to make up for lost export revenue. | 21:15 |
| Office workers | CLIFF SUN: The manufacturing sectors will probably be the first to recover. The financial tsunami really is hurting the stock market, the banks, the real estate property, the market – those are being hard hit and it takes a long time for them to recover – but in the | 21:31 |
| Cliff Sun | retail level, in the consumer market, there is always demand, you know, for certain necessities. | 21:51 |
| McDonnell walks with Xiong Yan | MCDONELL: And the manufacturing sector has come good for our persistent job seeker. Xiong Yan has found work as a graphic illustrator in a clothing company. Her city life is looking up. XIONG YAN: Once I’ve saved some money I will send it back home | 22:00 |
| Xiong Yan | and my dad is in charge of how to spend it. They won’t waste the money. They’ll use the money for what they need – like for growing crops they’ll need fertiliser…or tuition for my elder sister. | 22:22 |
| Sky/clouds | Music | 22:38 |
| Farm | MCDONELL: Some villagers will lose half their income if the people don’t go to work in the cities. Yet China’s migrant workers, like its entire rural population, are remarkably resilient. In recent decades they’ve put down the plough and taken up the soldering iron. If some of them now have to return to farming to ride out this economic downturn, at least they’ll survive and that’s what they’ll tell you it’s all about, to survive whatever crisis is thrown at you and live for a better day. | 22:46 |
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| Music |
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| Reporter Stephen McDonell Camera: Rob Hill Editor: Simon Brynjolffssen, Producer: Jiang Xin | 23:40 |