Introduction
In her book entitled The China Price: The True Cost of Chinese Competitive Advantage, Harney discussed about the impact of the rapid industrialization in China. She pointed out how the industrialization and economic progress transformed the country to what people would consider as the world’s factory, yet, the author argued that this progress resulted in adverse consequences. Accordingly, the book talks about important elements that relate to the country’s geography.
a. Migrant Workers Issue
One of the factors that was discussed by Harney in her book is the issue of migrant workers. According to the author, there is a “need to create an organization that truly represents workers, particularly migrants, in their negotiations with government agencies” (Harney, n.p). Harney suggested this because the cheap labor provided by the internal migrants from the rural areas to the urban areas of China is beneficial for the different factories, but they proved to be detrimental to the health and well being of these migrants. Moreover, the influx of people from the rural areas into the city can be attributed to the fact that there are more employment opportunities in the city due to the presence of large factories. In terms of geography, these internal migrations are perceived as a response to the wide disparity of wages across the different regions in China.
China’s Export Sector transformed into a progressive instrument that propelled the country’s economic growth. It was able to provide employment to millions of its citizens, the majority of whom came from the state’s rural areas. In terms of human geography, millions of rural dwellers internally migrate to China’s key cities, a large number of them became employed in the manufacturing industries.
In the countryside, most people are engaged in agriculture and the lure of better employment in the city tempts the majority of young people and agricultural workers to leave home. Unfortunately, a large number of these migrant workers faced inequality, poor living conditions, low pay and hazardous working environment. Faced with these social problems, there is a need for the Chinese government to improve its rule of law and the legal system to “end official collusion with industry at the expense of workers’ and ordinary citizens’ health, safety and livelihood” (Harney, n.p).
b. Environmental Problems
The rapid economic growth of China in the past two decades comes at the cost of environmental problems. Some of the its environmental concerns include water and air pollution that subjects its citizens to various health hazards. In the Harney’s book, she claimed that the government incurred a mounting health care bill and this can be attributed to the “China’s millions of migrant workers” (Harney n.p), who were perceived to be vulnerable to occupation-related diseases. For instance, the rise of many industries resulted in the accumulation of waste in land surfaces and bodies of water.
Geographically speaking, the accumulated waste in the different manufacturing sites of the country found their way in the different bodies of water. For example, chemical and power plants, as well as paper and textile factories among others that are located near the riverside carelessly dump their waste to the waters. These acts lead to the contamination of the country’s bodies of water, thus threatening to contaminate the drinking water of the population. The water pollution alone can have an impact in the health of the citizens, which in turn require health expenditure on the part of the government.
c. Increase Health Care Expenditure
The private sector gained from the cheap labor provided by the China’s labor force, and this in turn became beneficial to the economic growth of the country. However, these workers who are considered as one among the key drivers of the industrial growth of China are prone to experience health and work hazards. These health problems pose as an economic burden to the Chinese government as “much of the burden of treating Chinese workers who get sick on the job could well fall on hospitals in rural areas in or near migrants hometown” (Harney n.p). It is to be noted that the geographical migration of workers has caused this societal problem, this in addition to the pro-industry stance of local officials who root for rapid economic progress, rather than opting for the gradual yet sustainable manner of doing business.
As a means to provide a solution to these concerns, the Chinese government has assured to shift its from heavily relying on exports. This means the government plans to root more on domestic consumption, “and eliminate one source of social unrest by narrowing the country’s income gap” (Harneyn n.p). The plan to root on domestic consumption means that, geographically, the commercial activities will focus more on both the urban and rural areas of the country. Theoretically, this can help in solving the congestion in large cities, as well as the gradual elimination of environmental pollutants.
The use of cheap labor was beneficial for the economic progress of China, but this eventually resulted to increase the number of internal migrant workers. Moreover, the increase number of migrants in the city proved to be hazardous to the health of the workers. In addition to that, the different industries resulted to the environmental degradation. The government must resort to reform in order to solve these problems and maintain sustainability in the process.
Works Cited
Harney, Alexandra. The China Price: The True Cost of Chinese Competitive Advantage. New York: The Penguin Press, 2008. Print.
