Dongguan MAYOR GOES FOR GROWTH AMID GRIM DATA

CHINESE MAYOR GOES FOR GROWTH AMID GRIM DATA
By Tom Mitchell in Dongguan 2009-07-30

Dongguan, the south China city whose factories alone outpace those of Vietnam in exports, has recorded a 10 per cent decline in employment since the onset of the global economic downturn, its mayor said yesterday. The city, about 90km north of Hong Kong, was hit by a fall in exports of 24 per cent over the first six months of 2009 compared with the previous year's first half as consumers cut their spending. As a result, gross domestic product grew 0.6 per cent in the first half, compared with the national figure of 7.1 per cent and a 30-year average in Dongguan of 18 per cent. “Manufacturing is Dongguan's pillar industry,” Li Yuquan said. “The global financial crisis has had a strong impact on Dongguan.” Mr Li said registered employment had fallen to 5.7m, an implied loss of 630,000 jobs. In January, the government estimated that 20m of the country's 130m migrant workers had lost their jobs. Most of Dongguan's 10m residents are migrants. In spite of the grim data, the mayor was confident that Dongguan could reach its official annual GDP growth target of 10 per cent. “We are under great pressure to meet our GDP goal because Dongguan is an export-oriented economy,” Mr Li said. “But we have every confidence we will achieve it.” The Dongguan government, whose revenues are also under pressure, has allocated Rmb1bn ($146m, €104m, £89m) in emergency financing for smaller enterprises, with Rmb4bn more earmarked for support. According to Mr Li, some 1,200 companies have taken advantage of the funds. He also said the local government had helped enterprises secure an additional Rmb20bn in bank loans. The crisis has primarily affected smaller factories, with 342 closing in the first six months of this year. Some 865 closed in 2008. “I can assure you that these figures are accurate,” Mr Li said. “The main impact of the financial crisis has not been factory closures but shrinking orders and manufacturing capacity.” Larger factories appear to be benefiting from the pain. C.K. Choi, general manager of a Nokia factory in Dongguan, said he was on track to beat last year's 5 per cent rise in export revenues. In China, Dongguan last year ranked behind only Shenzhen, Shanghai and Suzhou in exports, with $65.54bn in shipment.


中国广东省东莞市市长昨日表示，自全球经济开始下滑以来，该市就业人数已减少10%。仅东莞一地的工厂，出口就超过越南。 2009年上半年，随着消费者削减支出，这座位于香港以北约90公里的城市受到出口同比下跌24%的打击。其结果是，东莞GDP在上半年同比增长0.6%，远低于7.1%的全国GDP增幅、以及18%的当地30年平均增幅。 “制造业是东莞的支柱产业，”东莞市长李毓全表示。“全球金融危机对东莞造成了沉重打击。”他表示，登记就业人数已跌至570万，这意味着该市失去了63万个就业岗位。 今年1月，中国政府估计，全国1.3亿外出务工人员中，已有2000万人失去了工作。东莞市1000万居民中，多数是外来务工人员。 尽管有上述糟糕的经济数据，但东莞市长仍表示相信，该市能够达到10%的官方年度GDP增幅目标。“为了达到我们的GDP目标，我们承受着巨大压力，因为东莞经济是以出口为导向的，”李毓全说。“但我们完全有信心能够实现目标。” 尽管市政府的收入也面临压力，但东莞市政府已拨出10亿元人民币（合1.46亿美元），用作扶持中小企业的紧急融资，并已预留另外40亿元人民币扶持资金。 据李毓全介绍，已有大约1200家企业利用了政府资金。他还称，当地政府还帮助企业又争取到了200亿元人民币银行贷款。 危机主要对中小型工厂产生了影响，今年上半年有342家工厂关门。2008年则有大约865家工厂关门。“我可以向你保证，这些数字是准确的，”李毓全说。“金融危机的主要冲击并不是工厂关门，而是订单和制造产能的缩水。” 规模较大的工厂似乎正得益于困境。诺基亚(Nokia)东莞的总经理蔡志强(C.K. Choi)表示，他的工厂有望打破去年出口收入增长5%的纪录。 东莞去年的出口在中国仅次于深圳、上海和苏州，发货额达到655.4亿美元。 译者/和风