In the open workshop, Mr. Huang is waiting for the welder to hand over the next metal tray. The factory has only a handful of employees and half of the building is in darkness.
The factory owners were trapped in Europe and could not come to China, and they had not received new orders from American customers for months.
It's an industry that's trying to keep working.
"Until now, we haven't received any big orders to get the factory to start, pay salary 、 maintain operations ," Yulia Yakupova (Yuliya Yakubova) told me that she was outspoken about the plight of her business.
"The last thing I want to do is lay off or lay off people ," she said in Italy. "But she didn't know if she could survive.
Lianhua Shangpin (Lotus United) is an enterprise that is working hard and is located in an industrial park in Zhangjiagang City, Jiangsu Province, eastern China. It produces tracks and shelves for many stores, at least in the past.
The two-story manufacturing workshop used to have about 100 employees, but now only a few employees come to work every day.
Most machines are now also closed, and the ground is stacked together in cartons and rusty stock.
Mr. Huang is not very busy. Before we saw him, we saw sparks still coming out of the corner, and the white light of the welding flashed on the workbench.
Less pay
But the new-crown epidemic, which has brought about a disastrous global blockade, has shrunk the company to a few employees working in the corner.
Huang's salary has fallen by 50%, and he now spends only about 1500 yuan ($210) a month.
Private companies like lianhua are particularly vulnerable in the new crown crisis.
"The money I earn now only guarantees the most basic life ," he said. His family was hit hard because his wife also worked in the factory.
They are a microcosm of china's vast army of migrant workers.
When I saw him, he was taking a 25-minute break to lunch with his colleagues.
If the company fails, they lose their salary and free lunch, and there is no more to send home to their daughter. "I came here in 2012. My daughter is still in my hometown because I can't afford it. "
Private companies like Lianhua Shangpin have created the most new jobs in China, but they are particularly vulnerable in the crisis.
authorities in recent years, the party has focused more on consolidating and protecting state-owned enterprises, including industrial, transportation, telecommunications and financial giants.
These small businesses are also too dependent on business in the U.S., with companies like Lianhua Shangping having only American customers, so they are very vulnerable and have 100 jobs at stake.
Employment is a big deal
An impending unemployment crisis is a nightmare for Chinese leader. Governing Communist Party have been concerned about the impact on social stability.
This April, Wuhan broke out a small but rare protest activity. workers gathered in a shopping mall to protest their unbearable rent.
China's official urban survey of unemployment has reached an all-time high of over 6%. Independent institutions predict that this figure may be higher.
At present, only a few workers in the factory are still working.
China's second-in-command, prime minister Li Keqiang last month acknowledged the seriousness of the problem. "In April, the unemployment rate in the urban survey was 6%... Employment is the greatest livelihood of the people, it is a great thing for a family. "
"Some foreign trade enterprises now have no orders, affecting the employment of employees ," Li Keqiang at the journalist meeting of the two sessions of the Chinese People's Congress, mentioned enterprises similar to Lianhua Shang Pin. "We need to help them with their difficulties, but fundamentally we need to help them find employment. "
Moreover, there is a group of —— graduates that Chinese authorities are particularly worried about.
Under pressure
Almost 9 million Chinese graduates will enter the job market this summer, but with job opportunities drastically reduced, Li Keqiang acknowledge that the employment situation is "grim ".
Outside a job fair in Shanghai, Ms. Zhang ,23, told us ," Yes, we are under a lot of pressure. can't find a job, but we do n' t want to stay at home and do nothing. "
She was pessimistic about the situation :" I don't expect it to improve in a year. "
Ms. Zhang said she expects employment to be difficult to improve within a year.
Today, many job fairs are online. Graduates wear masks and look at cell phone cameras, hoping to find their first job. "We didn't have any internship experience before, and we did n' t take part in the fall ," Ms. Zhang explained. "
Historically, Chinese government have assigned jobs to college graduates. But this time has passed for a long time.
A number of local government and state-owned enterprises are now being encouraged to recruit fresh graduates who will receive preferential tax breaks.
A key issue concerns economic recovery and legitimacy, as young, educated, unemployed, restless graduates are often a challenge for the ruling party.
In the face of difficulties, Ms. Yakubova said ," I hope we can start over in the near future after a month, two or three months. "
Because she was forced to give employees the minimum salary that could not meet the needs of some people, some employees had resigned to find other jobs.
If left, Mr. Huang and his wife will return to the north to become farmers.
Mr. Huang and his wife decided to stay, but they also had a plan. "We're under a lot of stress here ," he said. "Renting, living expenses... If we don't make it, we' ll go. "
If they leave, they will return to the north and become farmers farming in the corn and wheat fields.
Millions of migrant workers like them may do the same. This will be an unexpected reversal of China's decades-long process of massive urbanization.
