China’s labor crisis and the rise of the robots
But ‘isolation’ in the form of President Xi’s ‘self-reliance’ policy might stifle ‘innovation’ at home
China will ignore the lessons of the past and rely on automation, not immigration, to solve its workforce crisis. Amid a rapidly shrinking population, the Communist Party-state plans to “fill the gaps in the labor market” by rolling out robots linked to artificial intelligence or AI.
But in the long term, President Xi Jinping’s regime risks repeating the “same mistakes” as the Ming dynasty with its ‘self-reliance’ policies. By the end of the 15th century, “innovation” had been stifled after the retreat into “isolation.”
It turned the country into a backwater for science and technology. “Coupled with a rigid, centrally controlled system, [it] minimized creative and disruptive impulses,” China Business Spotlight warned in a newsletter this week.
“Those who shield themselves from outside innovation and focus on control rob themselves of the dynamism that makes progress possible in the first place,” it said.
Behind the news:
- China’s industrial renaissance in the late 20th century was built on massive foreign investment and Western technology.
- Coupled with what seemed to be an endless supply of cheap labor, the country quickly became the factory of the world.
Factories need workers, and the population is dwindling and aging.
Delve deeper: But factories need workers, and the population is dwindling and aging. Last year, 1.408 billion people lived in the country, or 1.39 million fewer than in 2023. Officially, there were 9.54 million births compared to 10.93 million deaths.
Between the lines: Yet even those figures are being questioned by Yi Fuxian, a senior scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “According to his calculations, the actual population is around 1.28 billion,” China Business Spotlight reported.
Big picture: To fill the gap, a manufacturing revolution is gripping the nation with the emergence of “dark factories” powered by robots and AI. The factories “operate without human workers or traditional lighting.”
Bottom line: At the same time, moves to attract young foreign “science and technology professionals” have caused a “backlash” in China. “[It] comes [as] well-educated young people are struggling to find employment,” the CNN network reported earlier this month.
China Factor comment: Against this backdrop, Beijing is racing to replace a lack of semi-skilled workers with cutting-edge technology. Keeping control and boosting efficiency have become priorities for the Communist Party as it tightens its grip on power.