Jobs in China’s export-import industries wither in the heat of Washington’s trade war with Beijing

Demand for labour at China’s importers, exporters, and related manufacturers fell by 40 per cent in the last quarter of 2018 from a year earlier, showing the trade war with the US has taken its toll, a survey released on Friday revealed.

The China Institute for Employment Research (CIER) at the Renmin University of China in Beijing found jobs in export-oriented regions, including Dongguan in the Pearl River Delta and Suzhou in the Yangtze River Delta, were hit hard.

However, the decline in fourth quarter trade-related employment was slightly smaller than in the third, when hiring in those sectors plunged 53 per cent, the quarterly survey showed.

The bleak jobs outlook is at odds with the picture China’s official employment market data have painted. Official figures showed that the country created more than 13 million jobs in 2018 – more than the government’s target of 11 million – while the urban registered jobless rate fell to 3.8 per cent at the end of 2018.

However, corporate announcements and independent research suggested that China faces growing obstacles to employment goals, especially where overseas trade is concerned. Foxconn, which assembles iPhones and is one of the largest manufacturing employers in China, is cutting its workforce after poor sales of the latest Apple smartphone models.