https://www.scmp.com/rss/142057/feed Li Qiang is the founder and executive director of China Labour Watch and a human rights advocate with over 30 years of experience investigating global supply chains. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Li Qiang Li Qiang The intensifying US-China trade tensions, most visibly in the form of US tariffs, have been framed as a significant threat to China’s export-driven economy. The real impact of tariffs remains to be seen. However, China should see the tariffs for what they really are: a signal that the world is losing patience with a model of growth built on cheap labour and poor protections, and with its impact on economies. This pressure need not be seen as a challenge, but as an opportunity. There is no better... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3308590/us-tariffs-wake-call-china-improve-labour-standards?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3308590/us-tariffs-wake-call-china-improve-labour-standards?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 May 2025 08:32:08 +0000 As the presidential election season gets under way, American politicians have used the coming state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping as an occasion to criticise China's human rights record. I have spent more than a decade striving to improve civil rights in China. My efforts, like those of other Chinese activists, have regularly been obstructed by the Chinese government. Beijing's efforts to suppress civil rights should receive condemnation. But the problem with American politicians'... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1860086/us-must-acknowledge-worker-abuse-linked-its-corporate-giants?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1860086/us-must-acknowledge-worker-abuse-linked-its-corporate-giants?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 Sep 2015 07:19:10 +0000 I used to have an iPhone 4. It's the best smartphone I ever owned. Apple's designers pursue the highest standards for the quality of the technology they create. As a human rights and labour activist, I once genuinely hoped Apple would apply the same earnestness employed in the pursuit of product quality to its treatment of the workers making its products. I hoped the fantastic profits resulting from Apple's technological advancements could allow equally great improvements in working conditions.... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1753507/apple-should-not-profit-expense-low-wage-workers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1753507/apple-should-not-profit-expense-low-wage-workers?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Apr 2015 07:31:23 +0000 Consider this statistic: the wealth of China's 1,000 richest people is equal to that of all 263 million migrant workers combined. According to the 2012 Hurun Rich List, the combined wealth of China's 1,000 richest men and women equalled about US$860 billion, a 9 per cent drop from the previous year. Despite this, their combined wealth is still almost double that of 2008. According to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics, there were 263 million migrant workers in China by the end of... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1265164/rising-costs-china-are-not-excuse-exploit-workers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1265164/rising-costs-china-are-not-excuse-exploit-workers?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Jun 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Apple's iPhone 5 sold out in its first weekend, with consumers buying over 5 million units. But if you were hoping to get one, don't worry, because Apple chief executive Tim Cook has assured us that, "We are working hard to get an iPhone 5 into the hands of every customer who wants one as quickly as possible." But when Apple executives say "we", they actually mean their Chinese manufacturing workers. It is these factory workers who are "working hard" - more accurately, doing whatever it takes -... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1062557/high-costs-iphone?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1062557/high-costs-iphone?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Amidst the frenzy of the heated real estate market, the Chinese Property Rights Law came into effect at the beginning of the month. While much of the law purports to consolidate and reinforce property rights-related provisions that already exist in various mainland laws and regulations, the significance of the Property Rights Law in furthering the development of the country's market-oriented economy should be properly recognised. On the political front, one of the greatest achievements of the... https://www.scmp.com/article/613479/private-property-gains-equality-law?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/613479/private-property-gains-equality-law?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Oct 2007 16:00:00 +0000 Following China's accession to the WTO in December 2001, foreign investment in China's banking sector has significantly increased. This has happened at a time when the global banking community, going along with recent trend, continues to experience a wave of restructuring and merger activities. Implementing global bank mergers poses significant challenges to the merging banks, as a merger must occur in accordance with the laws of each jurisdiction in which banking assets are being... https://www.scmp.com/article/383720/implementing-foreign-bank-mergers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/383720/implementing-foreign-bank-mergers?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Jun 2002 16:00:00 +0000