Those Chinese workers maybe "undocumented", but their situations are quite different from those illegal Vietnamese laborers in China.
1. Those Chinese are skilled builders and engineers, and those Vietnamese are unskilled illegal laborers.
2. Those Chinese entered Vietnam legally, often dispatched by their own companies which may just try to avoid the hassle of applying and waiting for a proper working visa from Vietnamese authority, while those Vietnamese entered China illegally through "snakeheads".
3. Chinese work in Vietnam because the skilled workers are in short supply in Vietnam, while Vietnamese work in China because low pay laborers are in short supply in China.
4. Chinese workers do not seek long term stay Vietnam, while illegal Vietnamese laborers often become illegal immigrants.
Hopefully, Vietnam will not be China's Mexico, but instead, will become China's Canada (economically).
I sincerely wish that.
***
SCIO briefing on China's Q1 imports and exports
The global economic situation is complicated this year, as global trade continues to shrink and Chinese economic development has entered a phase known as the"New Normal." According to statistics from Chinese customs, the total value of imports and exports during the first quarter was 5.2 trillion yuan, down by 5.9 percent over the same period of last year. Among them, the value of exports was 3 trillion yuan, down by 4.2 percent, and the value of imports was 2.2 trillion yuan, down by 8.2 percent. The value of trade surplus widened by 8.5 percent from one year earlier to 810.2 billion yuan.
The following represents the major aspects in detail.
Imports and exports continue to decline on a year-on-year basis. The decline of exports has become stable month by month after using the seasonal adjustment method. During the first quarter, the value of imports and exports has fallen by 6.7 percent, 2.9 percent and 3.3 percent in January, February and March respectively, compared with the figures from last year. The exports declined by 4.2 percent and 0.8 percent respectively in the first two month and saw an increase of 0.9 percent in March. Meanwhile, the value of imports has dropped 10.3 percent, 5.5 percent and 8 percent respectively year on year.
The proportion of imports and exports in general trade has increased. During the first quarter, the value of imports and exports in general trade was 2.91 trillion yuan, down by 4.9 percent, accounting for 55.9 percent of the total value, up 0.6 percentage points over the same period of last year. The structure of the trade model has become optimized.
The exports to countries along the "Belt and Road" have increased. During the first quarter, China's exports to Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, India and Russia increased by 26.4 percent, 16.6 percent, 6.3 percent, 6.1 percent and 6.2 percent respectively. Meanwhile, China's exports to the EU, the United States and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, decreased by 1.4 percent, 3.4 percent and 8.5 percent respectively. China's exports to the latter three partners account for 46.7 percent of the total value of exports in the first quarter.
Exports from private enterprises keep top position. The value of imports and exports from private enterprises reached 2 trillion yuan, up by 3.6 percent, accounting for 38.2 percent of the total value of China's foreign trade. Among them, the value of exports is 1.39 trillion yuan, up by 2.4 percent and accounting for 46.1 percent of the total value of exports, surpassing the proportions of those from foreign-invested companies and state-owned enterprises. The value of imports from the private sector increased by 6.5 percent, maintaining the trend of growth from the fourth quarter of last year.
Mechanical and electrical products as well as labor intensive products are the main export products. In the first quarter, the value of mechanical and electrical export products was 1.74 trillion yuan, down by 4.2 percent, accounting for 57.7 percent of the total value of exports. Among them, exports of medical instruments, storage batteries and solar batteries increased by 3.3 percent, 2.7 percent and 10.9 percent respectively. During the same period, the value of labor intensive products export was 622.52 billion yuan, a drop of one percent and accounting for 20.7 percent of the total value. Among them, exports of textile products, toys and plastic products increased.
The imports of bulk commodities such as iron ore, crude oil and copper continued to grow. The prices have maintained a low level. In the first quarter, China imported 242 million-ton iron ore, 91.1 million-ton crude oil, and 1.43 million-ton copper, up by 6.5 percent, 13.4 percent and 30.1 percent respectively. Meanwhile, the imports of coal were 48.46 million tons, product oils 7.75 million tons and steels 3.13 million tons, a drop of 1.2 percent, 1.9 percent, and 3.3 percent respectively.The total import prices dropped by 11.5 percent. Among them, the import price of iron ore dropped by 30.8 percent year on year, the price of crude oil dropped by 37.2 percent, the product oil price dropped by 25.9 percent, the coal price declined by 23.6 percent, the copper price decreased by 17.1 percent and the steel price was down 11.3 percent.
Moreover, the total export price in the first quarter fell by 4.2 percent. Therefore, China's terms-of-trade was 108.2 in the first quarter, which means we can buy 8.2 percent more imports for a given level of exports. This figure means our terms of trade are improving.
China's leading indicator of exports is picking up. In March, the leading indicator is 31.6, an increase of 0.3 from the previous month, which indicates that China's exports are expected to make a steady comeback in the second quarter. Online survey data shows that China's Export Managers Index, new Export Order Index and Manager Confidence Index all rose slightly in March.
In the meantime, China's exports still have to make headway through adversity. For instance, bilateral trade fell between China and its major trade partners, including the European Union, the United States and the ASEAN; imports and exports by foreign-funded enterprises and state-owned enterprises decreased by 9.1 and 16.9 percent, respectively; and processing trade was down by 11.6 percent.
In the face of such a pressing and complex foreign trade situation, Chinese customs will firmly put into practice all policies and measures from the CPC Central Committee and State Council regarding the maintenance of stable growth in foreign trade and will be closely linked to the construction of a new open economic system, deepening reforms in a comprehensive way, persistently making progress while ensuring stability, creating an easier business environment, inspiring momentum in market entities and promoting steady growth in foreign trade. Now I am ready to take your questions.
http://china.org.cn/china/2016-04/13/content_38237170_2.htm
