Chinese workers pay the price for crisis in confidence 

Millions of Chinese workers are paying the price of a crisis of confidence in the manufacturing industry. The men and women creating the country’s “economic miracle” are suffering “long working hours and low wages.”

In June, average working hours were 48.6, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics. The figures exceeded the “six-day, eight-hour” working week, China Labour Bulletin reported this week.

“Excessively long working hours directly damage the health of workers. [They] suffer from a poor work-life balance,” the workers’ rights advocacy group stressed.

“The major issue here is to ensure that workers receive reasonable wages within standard working hours,” a survey by China Labour Bulletin added.

Citi Research has warned of a ‘cruel summer’ ahead.

By the numbers:

• Factor activity in July shrank for the third straight month, the National Bureau of Statistics stated this week.
• The manufacturing purchasing managers’ index or PMI dipped to 49.4, edging down from June’s 49.5.
• That was below the 50-mark separating growth from contraction.
• The private Caixin/S&P Global PMI also dropped to 49.8 in July.
• It was the lowest reading since October last year.

Delve deeper: “The most prominent issues are insufficient effective domestic demand and weak market optimism,” Wang Zhe, an economist at Caixin Insight, said on Thursday.

Between the lines: As the situation deteriorates, Citi Research has warned of a “cruel summer” unless Beijing rolls out concrete policies to boost shrinking consumer spending.

Big picture: Advanced manufacturing in fields such as solar power has been badly hit. Furlough notices have gone out and wages have been cut, China Labour Bulletin said.

China Factor comment: Pessimism hangs over the country amid a real estate collapse, and tariff wars with the United States and Europe. Sluggish household consumption data has only added to the gloom.