Marry was in
labor for two hours.
玛丽的分娩过程长达两个小时。
The company violated the
labor contract.
公司反了劳动合同。
We
labor for the victory of the proletariat.
我们为无产阶级的胜利而努力。
As the world's largest industrial city, Suzhou has 6,587,000 electricity consumers, which has brought a heavy workload, as well as high labor and time costs, to the local power supply company.
作为全球最大的工业城市，苏州有65.87万用电用户，这给当地供电公司带来了沉重的工作量以及高昂的人力和时间成本。
"Through upgrades, our breeding area is expected to save more than 100,000 yuan ($14,008) in labor costs per year, and annual output can grow by 5 percent, with an increase of 400,000 yuan in annual output value," said a director of Allen Bay's comprehensive breeding area.
艾伦湾综合养殖区的一位负责人表示：“通过升级，我们的养殖区预计每年可节省超过10万元人民币（14008美元）的劳动力成本，年产量可增长5%，年产值可增加40万元人民币。”。
"The skills in the labor force and the competence that we have here in China are a big competitive advantage.
“劳动力的技能和我们在中国的能力是一个巨大的竞争优势。
However, like many companies operating in the UK, Chinese companies are currently facing a labor shortage, with roughly two-thirds pointing to an anticipated "slight" or "severe" labor shortage during the next two years.
然而，与许多在英国经营的公司一样，中国公司目前面临劳动力短缺，约三分之二的公司表示，未来两年预计将出现“轻微”或“严重”的劳动力短缺。
It is no easy task and was actually a four-year labor of love in the making.
这不是一项容易的任务，实际上是一项为期四年的爱的劳动。
Swiss human resources services provider The Adecco Group (TAG) will continue to increase its investment and innovation in China by providing more upskilling and reskilling services into the local labor market and introducing more novel employment models in the country, said the company's China CEO Ni Ying.
瑞士人力资源服务提供商Adecco集团中国区首席执行官倪颖表示，该公司将继续增加在中国的投资和创新，向当地劳动力市场提供更多的技能提升和再培训服务，并在中国引入更多新颖的就业模式。
"We have invested deeply in the research and development of preterm labor, postpartum hemorrhage, endometriosis and many other disease areas to change the situation for women.
“我们在早产、产后出血、子宫内膜异位症和许多其他疾病领域的研发上投入了大量资金，以改变女性的状况。
Chinese enterprises, while carrying out businesses in a completely new market, often encounter workforce management and legal challenges during their operational phase, such as tax compliance, labor disputes and drafting of contracts, which may lead to significant risks or losses if no preliminary research or precautions are undertaken, said Lin Tan, founder and CEO of PayInOne, a Shanghai-based full-service global employee management and payroll platform.
PayInOne创始人兼首席执行官林檀表示，中国企业在一个全新的市场开展业务时，在运营阶段经常会遇到劳动力管理和法律挑战，如税务合规、劳动争议和合同起草，如果不进行初步研究或预防，可能会导致重大风险或损失，总部位于上海的全方位服务全球员工管理和薪资平台。
By using these intelligent electrified farming methods, only a few technicians are needed for daily management, which greatly reduces the cost of labor.
通过使用这些智能化的电气化耕作方法，只需要少数技术人员进行日常管理，大大降低了劳动力成本。
"Through this, we can save labor costs of more than 300,000 yuan ($41,000) per year, reduce production energy costs by more than 25 percent, increase microalgae cultivation capacity by more than 30 percent, and cut annual carbon dioxide emissions by more than 100 metric tons," Bian said.
边说：“通过这种方式，我们每年可以节省30多万元人民币（4.1万美元）的劳动力成本，降低25%以上的生产能源成本，提高30%以上的微藻养殖能力，每年减少100多公吨二氧化碳排放。”。
Overcoming the low inflation problem will require material improvement in the labor market and acceleration in wage growth.
克服低通胀问题需要劳动力市场的实质性改善和工资增长的加速。
This will not only benefit the manufacturing sector but also the services sector that creates most of the jobs, which eventually will improve labor market conditions and bring higher wage growth.
这不仅有利于制造业，也有利于创造大部分就业机会的服务业，最终将改善劳动力市场条件，带来更高的工资增长。
With the increase of orders, the company invested more than 500,000 yuan to purchase intelligent sorting equipment, which can save lots of labor force.
随着订单的增加，该公司投资50多万元购买智能分拣设备，可以节省大量劳动力。
However, the group's main brand ANTA has seen slower growth in revenue and operating profits due to the transitional period of implementing its direct-to-consumer business model, which has added rents and labor costs, said the report.
然而，报告称，由于实施直接面向消费者的商业模式的过渡期，该集团的主要品牌安踏的收入和营业利润增长放缓，这增加了租金和劳动力成本。
With regards to the location of the plant in Jiujiang, Jiangxi, Klite's CEO Shen Yanwei said: "East China's Jiangxi has advantages in transportation and labor resources, making the province a great location for an LED manufacturing base.
关于工厂在江西九江的位置，科力特首席执行官沈延伟表示：“华东地区的江西在交通和劳动力资源方面具有优势，使该省成为LED制造基地的绝佳位置。
Low labor costs have attracted global companies, especially manufacturers, to expand their industrial layouts in Southeast Asia.
低劳动力成本吸引了全球公司，尤其是制造商，扩大其在东南亚的产业布局。
Experts also said Southeast Asian countries have abundant labor resources and strong consumer demand.
专家还表示，东南亚国家劳动力资源丰富，消费需求旺盛。
As staffing services include labor contracts, recruitment, talent management and payroll, it can truly help clients lower costs and increase efficiency," said Machuel.
由于人事服务包括劳动合同、招聘、人才管理和工资单，它可以真正帮助客户降低成本，提高效率，”Machuel说。
"Yuan is a past recipient of the May 1st Labor Medal of Zhejiang Province and has also participated in other large-scale activities such as the BRICS leaders' meeting and Wuzhen Internet Conference.
袁是浙江省五一劳动奖章获得者，还参加过金砖国家领导人会晤、乌镇互联网大会等大型活动。
"With adequate labor supply and smoother logistics since the beginning of this year, we are confident in accomplishing the project on time," he said.
他说：“自今年年初以来，劳动力供应充足，物流顺畅，我们有信心按时完成该项目。”。
The factory has deployed over 30 fourth industrial revolution flexible automation and advanced analytics use cases, improving labor productivity by 45 percent and reducing supplier quality issues by 55 percent, while managing small-size yet numerous customer orders — 80 percent of which are less than five units — according to the World Economic Forum.
根据世界经济论坛的数据，该工厂已经部署了30多个第四次工业革命的灵活自动化和高级分析用例，将劳动生产率提高了45%，将供应商质量问题减少了55%，同时管理着规模较小但数量众多的客户订单，其中80%的订单不到5台。
Investments in large and strategic infrastructure projects are critical to stabilizing growth, promoting upgrading in regions with out-of-date infrastructure and improving livelihoods, as investments in such projects, which feature large investments, a strong industrial chain and are labor intensive, will not only step up the overall construction progress but also facilitate the development of relevant industries along the chain, bringing a direct driving force to industrial production, said Luo Huanjie, a senior analyst at Zhixin Investment Research Institute, who was quoted by Economic Information Daily.
对大型战略性基础设施项目的投资对于稳定增长、促进基础设施落后地区的升级和改善生计至关重要，因为对此类项目的投资规模大、产业链强、劳动力密集，《经济参考报》援引智信投资研究院高级分析师罗焕杰的话说，这不仅会加快整体建设进度，还会促进相关产业的发展，为工业生产带来直接驱动力。
In 1994, CITS Overseas Economic Cooperation Co Ltd invested in the establishment of the CITS Group Tourism Labor Training Center.
1994年，中国国旅海外经济合作有限公司投资成立中国国旅集团旅游劳务培训中心。
From scratch to finish, the birth of an aircraft must go through numerous processes of production and needs the arduous and sophisticated labor of many people, and the A321neo is no exception.
从零开始到完成，一架飞机的诞生必须经历无数的生产过程，需要许多人的辛勤劳动，A321neo也不例外。
The country's advantages such as an educated labor force and highly competitive business environment cannot be duplicated by other countries.
该国的优势，如受过教育的劳动力和竞争激烈的商业环境，是其他国家无法复制的。
"The opening of our mega factory is another milestone in helping our customers grow sustainably, address labor shortages and create high-value jobs in a new era of automation," said Sami Atiya, president of ABB's robotics and discrete automation division.
ABB机器人和离散自动化部门总裁Sami Atiya表示：“我们大型工厂的开业是帮助我们的客户在自动化的新时代可持续发展、解决劳动力短缺和创造高价值工作岗位的又一个里程碑。”。
"The opening of our new mega factory is another milestone in helping our customers grow sustainably, address labor shortages and create high-value jobs in a new era of automation," said Sami Atiya, president of ABB's robotics and discrete automation division.
ABB机器人和离散自动化部门总裁Sami Atiya表示：“我们新的大型工厂的开业是帮助我们的客户在自动化的新时代可持续发展、解决劳动力短缺和创造高价值工作岗位的又一个里程碑。”。
"We no longer regard China as just a big manufacturing country with low labor costs," Homma said while emphasizing China is an innovation powerhouse with sufficient talent and a strong ability to absorb new technologies.
“我们不再把中国仅仅视为一个劳动力成本低的制造业大国，”Homma说，同时强调中国是一个拥有足够人才和强大吸收新技术能力的创新强国。
The suspension is expected to last for three days, as not all applicants will ultimately be employed, labor intermediary Guo Xiaomei, told the media.
劳动中介机构郭晓梅对媒体表示，由于并非所有求职者最终都会被录用，暂停期预计将持续三天。
Although labor costs are relatively cheaper in Southeast Asian economies, China's strong economic resilience, including the stability, openness and the high efficiency of its manufacturing and industrial sector, makes China a more practical choice for multinational companies to locate hub factories and expand business operations, according to Liu, the researcher with the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies.
刘表示，尽管东南亚经济体的劳动力成本相对较低，但中国强大的经济韧性，包括制造业和工业部门的稳定性、开放性和高效率，使中国成为跨国公司选址枢纽工厂和扩大业务运营的更现实的选择，重阳金融研究所研究员。
""As a result, the site expanded capacity by 123 percent, improved labor productivity by 98 percent, and reduced unit manufacturing cost by 29 percent," WEF's official website said.
世界经济论坛的官方网站说：“因此，该工厂的产能扩大了123%，劳动生产率提高了98%，单位制造成本降低了29%。”。
Its efficiency and quality have improved significantly, with labor costs reduced by at least one-fifth, the company said.
该公司表示，其效率和质量显著提高，劳动力成本至少降低了五分之一。
"Robotics can bridge labor and skills shortages, while giving companies a greater degree of flexibility.
“机器人技术可以弥补劳动力和技能短缺，同时给公司更大程度的灵活性。
A robot can dispense medicines to patients 50 percent faster in a busy inpatient pharmacy, making the whole process traceable, while simplifying the inventory management and, ultimately, reducing the labor intensity of medical staff so that they can do more valuable work.
在繁忙的住院药房，机器人可以以50%的速度为患者配药，使整个过程可追溯，同时简化库存管理，最终降低医务人员的劳动强度，使他们能够做更有价值的工作。
Supported by more mature smart solutions, robots are becoming increasingly common in warehouses amid a growing phenomenon in manufacturing and logistics centers, as both sectors often require constantly upgraded solutions to boost efficiency and reduce labor costs, especially at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has been weighing on smooth operations in industrial chains.
在更成熟的智能解决方案的支持下，随着制造业和物流中心的现象日益严重，机器人在仓库中越来越常见，因为这两个行业通常都需要不断升级的解决方案来提高效率和降低劳动力成本，尤其是在新冠肺炎疫情影响产业链平稳运营的时候。
Unlike traditional warehouses where assortment of goods is mostly finished by human labor, warehouses with AMRs leverage integrated management systems to assign delivery missions and arrange robots to carry "goods to their Mr/Mrs Right", rather than employees finding them with their naked eyes.
与传统仓库不同，在传统仓库中，货物的分类大多由人力完成，配备AMR的仓库利用集成管理系统来分配配送任务，并安排机器人将“货物运送给他们的得力助手”，而不是员工用肉眼找到。
The World Bank's new trial standards to evaluate the satisfaction in a country's business environment for foreign companies include 10 aspects: Market access, business premise acquisition, labor employment, access to financial services, cross-border trade, tax payment, settlement of commercial disputes and promotion of market competition.
世界银行评估外国公司对一个国家商业环境满意度的新试行标准包括10个方面：市场准入、经营场所收购、劳动力就业、获得金融服务、跨境贸易、纳税、解决商业纠纷和促进市场竞争。
The international division of labor, experts said, has four stages.
专家表示，国际分工分为四个阶段。
"Some production sites remained operational even at the beginning of the recent lockdown in Shanghai and we have been making every effort to overcome challenges, including raw material supply issues, logistics disruptions and labor shortages, to maintain supply and business continuity for our customers," said Jeffrey Lou, president and chairman of BASF Greater China.
巴斯夫大中华区总裁兼董事长楼表示：“即使在上海最近的封锁开始时，一些生产基地仍在运营，我们一直在尽一切努力克服挑战，包括原材料供应问题、物流中断和劳动力短缺，以保持客户的供应和业务连续性。”。
The chemical manufacturers said while they also face challenges and uncertainties brought by the pandemic, including labor shortages, logistics disruptions and raw material shortfalls, the government has provided support to facilitate work resumption of key industries, and affected firms are also exploring every possibility to speed up work resumption, which is very important for the entire chemical value chain in China.
这些化学品制造商表示，尽管他们也面临着疫情带来的挑战和不确定性，包括劳动力短缺、物流中断和原材料短缺，但政府已为促进关键行业的复工提供了支持，受影响的企业也在探索加快复工的一切可能性，这对于中国的整个化学价值链来说是非常重要的。
"Former US labor secretary Robert Reich tweeted: "When billionaires like Elon Musk justify their motives by using ‘freedom,' beware.
美国前劳工部长Robert Reich在推特上写道：“当像埃隆·马斯克这样的亿万富翁用‘自由’来证明他们的动机时，要小心。”。
"Compared with the eastern regions in the country, labor costs here are much lower, enabling enterprises to spend more on lighter R&D," Song said.
“与中国东部地区相比，这里的劳动力成本要低得多，这使企业能够在更轻的研发上投入更多，”宋说。
Song also suggested moving more supportive industries related to lighter manufacturing to Cengong county from the eastern parts of the country to enjoy labor and power benefits.
宋还建议将更多与轻工业相关的支持性产业从东部地区转移到岑巩县，以享受劳动和电力福利。
Zeng said the company has had plenty of interaction with US clients, including both traditional automakers and emerging vehicle manufacturers, and has explored with them the feasibility of supplies and cooperation, depending on product quality and costs that are to be reflected by worker training, efficiency and labor unions.
曾表示，该公司与包括传统汽车制造商和新兴汽车制造商在内的美国客户进行了大量互动，并与他们探讨了供应和合作的可行性，具体取决于工人培训、效率和工会所反映的产品质量和成本。
At night, training was given to them on technical and labor management, data preparation, work acceptance, pricing and document collection.
晚上，他们接受了技术和劳动力管理、数据准备、工作验收、定价和文件收集方面的培训。
Technologies including the internet of things and artificial intelligence with more than 2,000 digital transformation initiatives have increased labor productivity by 52 percent, and reduced production lead time by 25 percent.
包括物联网和人工智能在内的技术以及2000多项数字化转型举措，使劳动生产率提高了52%，生产交付周期缩短了25%。
The mechanism saves us a lot of time and labor costs, and we can arrange production and shipments in a more flexible manner.
该机制为我们节省了大量的时间和人力成本，我们可以以更灵活的方式安排生产和发货。
The country will further support areas that have been lifted out of poverty in developing distinctive local businesses, and bolster labor collaboration and vocational skills training, to help people who are no longer in poverty steadily increase their income, the report said.
报告称，国家将进一步支持已脱贫地区发展特色当地企业，加强劳动协作和职业技能培训，帮助不再贫困的人稳步增加收入。
"The equipped advanced laboratory systems provided by MGI will also help minimize the labor required, and thus aim to improve the COVID-19 testing efficiency and capacity," Khamsing Keothongku added.
Khamsing Keothongku补充道：“MGI提供的先进实验室系统也将有助于最大限度地减少所需的劳动力，从而提高新冠肺炎检测效率和能力。”。
Ozawa said all of the employees of Canon's Zhuhai factory have already signed termination of labor contracts, and the plant is expected to be officially shut down by the end of June.
小泽说，佳能珠海工厂的所有员工已经签署了终止劳动合同，工厂预计将于6月底正式关闭。
China's local governments are encouraging employment and advancing technological development, thereby providing favorable policies and highly educated and localized labor resources.
中国的地方政府正在鼓励就业和促进技术发展，从而提供有利的政策和受过高等教育的本地化劳动力资源。
Central SOEs' profit margins of operating revenue, overall labor productivity and investment in research and development are also expected to increase, Peng told a media briefing in Beijing on Wednesday.
彭周三在北京的一次媒体吹风会上表示，中央国有企业的营业收入、整体劳动生产率和研发投资的利润率预计也将提高。
According to Peng, the growth goal for the operating profit margin this year has been set at 0.1 percentage point, and overall labor productivity, which was 694,000 yuan per capita, is sought to be increased by 5 percent year-on-year.
据彭介绍，今年营业利润率的增长目标定为0.1个百分点，人均69.4万元的劳动生产率同比增长5%。
"As the labor costs in Europe are high, the omni-channel model and cutting-edge technologies will help JD enhance logistics efficiency, lower delivery costs and gain an edge in the fiercely competitive marketplace," Lu said.
陆表示：“由于欧洲的劳动力成本很高，全渠道模式和尖端技术将帮助京东提高物流效率，降低配送成本，并在竞争激烈的市场中获得优势。”。
In the catering sector, for instance, self-help ordered by WeChat's mini programs managed to save 20 percent of labor costs for restaurant owners, while repurchase rates stood three times that using the conventional offline model.
例如，在餐饮业，微信小程序订购的自助服务为餐馆老板节省了20%的劳动力成本，而回购率是传统线下模式的三倍。
Last week, US President Joe Biden signed into law the so-called Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which virtually bans all imports from Xinjiang in China.
上周，美国总统乔·拜登签署了所谓的《维吾尔强迫劳动预防法案》，该法案实际上禁止从中国新疆进口所有产品。
It aims to test self-driving trucks on more expressways to provide safer and more effective solutions to fill the labor gap and improve logistics efficiency.
它旨在在更多的高速公路上测试自动驾驶卡车，以提供更安全、更有效的解决方案来填补劳动力缺口，提高物流效率。
Take a look at those foreign brands who have earned a lot of money from Chinese customers while making allegations about 'forced labor'.
看看那些外国品牌，他们在指控“强迫劳动”的同时，从中国客户那里赚了很多钱。
"We aim to help Chinese companies stabilize their labor forces and ensure their employees' safety and physical and mental health so enterprises can reach their sustainable development goals," Williams said.
威廉姆斯说：“我们的目标是帮助中国企业稳定劳动力，确保员工的安全和身心健康，使企业能够实现可持续发展目标。”。
The official website of WEF said the reason for approving Sany Beijing as a Lighthouse Factory was that "faced with growing demand and rising complexity in the multicategory and small-batch heavy machinery market, Sany Beijing deployed advanced human-machine collaboration automation, artificial intelligence and internet of things technologies to boost labor productivity by 85 percent.
The official website of WEF said the reason in approving Sany Beijing as a Lighthouse Factory was that "faced with growing demand and rising complexity in the multicategory and small-batch heavy machinery market, Sany Beijing deployed advanced human-machine collaboration automation, artificial intelligence and the internet of things technologies to boost labor productivity by 85 percent and reduce production lead time by 77 percent from 30 to seven days.
According to experts, they are also a viable alternative to addressing challenges such as rising labor costs and a shortage of couriers as the on-demand delivery industry experiences rapid growth.
Also, these traditional mowers rely heavily on human labor, which hikes lawn maintenance costs," Ren said.
No more than 30 bricklayers, with an average age at 50, work at a project to restore Great Wall's Jiankou section, one of the most dangerous and steepest sections, said Chen Yongmao, leader of the project while giving an example of lack of young labor.
These companies are being highlighted in a nationwide campaign to strengthen protection of flexibly employed workers who often lack well-defined labor contracts, health insurance and social benefits.
They are requested to sign labor contracts or written agreements with all employees, and guarantee their rights to receive pay, take breaks and ensure their safety at workplaces.
In addition, these companies are urged to upgrade algorithms and improve income distribution systems, guarantee time off, as well as enhance labor safety and sanitation regulations.
It saves 20 percent of the labor in the AVI process while increasing work efficiency and productivity, according to Phua.
"Back then, the county had developed a mature industry of making woolen sweaters, which helped nurtured a bunch of skilled workers familiar with wool techniques that are needed for making brush tips," Bae said, adding that lower-cost labor and a wealth of raw material supplies were also among the reasons they came to the county, which is about 170 kilometers southeast of Beijing and 80 km southwest of Tianjin.
While Bae's company is still based in Qingxian, other South Korean companies have withdrawn or moved elsewhere due to increasing costs for labor and raw materials.
Introducing artificial intelligence technology, TCL China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co Ltd, a producer of semiconductor displays, has also replaced quality inspectors with robots, cutting the labor force of the sector by half and increasing efficiency nearly 10 times.
"Different from the cheap labor advantage in the past, Chinese-made products have gained an increasingly better reputation globally in quality, packaging and design.
The old-fashioned approach to construction of process plants was to build the facilities entirely at the main building site using a large labor force.
As income gaps continue to increase, social instability factors rise in the country, so it is necessary to increase the share of labor in national income distribution, appropriately curb excessive capital and pay more attention to fairness in income distribution, Ren said.
He said that it is also because with the accelerated aging and declining birthrates, the "Lewis turning point"－the point at which the labor supply from rural areas for employment in cities is exhausted－has appeared, meaning that labor scarcity and capital surplus has begun.
The country's quarter-on-quarter economic growth may even accelerate later this year as consumption steadily recovers amid accelerated vaccination and a stabilized labor market, export growth remains resilient, and the recovery in manufacturing and infrastructure investment offsets a softening property sector, she said.
It also provides a viable alternative to address some challenges, such as rising labor costs and a shortage of couriers, along with the rapid growth of on-demand delivery industry, experts said.
A few global retail giants such H&M and Adidas, which chose not to source cotton from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region citing alleged use of "forced labor", have also caused strong antipathy in Chinese consumers toward certain foreign apparel and footwear brands, Liu said.
As China is undergoing an industrial upgrade from labor intensive to technology intensive, demand for atomization and industrial robots has been increasing, said Gou.
We work with local partners based on each other's strengths to tap the host nation's potentials in labor, resources and market," Zang said.
"The signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement further promotes the integration of regional economies, and for manufacturing players like us, the RCEP can strengthen the industrial collaboration of member countries, enhance the division of labor, and increase the overall competitiveness.
"As the first large-scale alumina production company in Indonesia, the joint venture has also made contributions to local development in areas like infrastructure construction, labor training, and technical upgrades in the alumina industry, Jia said.
Besides the supply chain, the balance of the regional labor force is also severely affected by the pandemic, dragging down the efficiency of the global supply network, as the 2021 China Enterprises Going Global Supply Chain Risk Map reveals.
Chinese enterprises should be well-acquainted with the regulations of foreign financing of the major market and do due diligence on finance, taxation, legal affairs and labor to promote the high-quality development of overseas investment through regional cooperation, said Zhou Jinzhu, deputy director and associated researcher of the International Trade Research Part of the Academic of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.
Gu said China robotics market will continue to grow fast due to mega trends like rising consumer demand for customized products, shortages of qualified labor and the need to become more resilient, uncertainty in demand, driven by COVID-19 and other factors.
Wang Chikun, an independent economist, said: "The trend of multinational pharmaceutical companies establishing R&D centers in China is a result of international division of labor.
With economic globalization, international labor already shifted from the manufacturing link to R&D, design and marketing, multinational corporations setting up their development centers in China is an inevitable trend.
me, choose to have no direct employment relationship, or labor contract relationship, with deliverymen.
The macroeconomy, financing, cost and labor force sub-indexes were all above 100 in the January-March period.
Wang Lin, deputy head of the labor relations department of the Beijing Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, volunteered to work as a deliveryman at Meituan platform for a day undercover.
"The nine processes from breeding seeds to selling mushrooms merely need labor.
Chun said the company will stay in the fresh produce category, and maintain its premium pricing strategy, owing to the costly smart agriculture system (they use substrates to grow the fruits) to human labor to handpicking the fragile fruits.
Since the second half of last year, although containers continued to move from Asia to Europe and North America, few sailed in the opposite direction due to COVID-19 restrictions, as well as labor shortages at European and US ports, warehouses and inland logistics.
China's economic growth will depend strongly on the industrial sector with less labor in the market during its 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period; automation and digitalization are the key to meet the country's growth demand, said Wang Xiaoming, a researcher at the Institutes of Science and Development of the Beijing-based Chinese Academy of Sciences.
At the same time, we know that the Chinese labor market has peaked already," he said.
As it is challenging for China to maintain a 6 percent GDP growth rate, which depends strongly on the industrial sector while having less labor in the market, the German executive said that automation and digitalization are the key to meet the country's growth demand.
As some big international retail brands, including H&M and Nike, have chosen not to source cotton from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region over "forced labor" concerns based on false information, an earlier statement from US footwear producer Skechers on the issue has provided an alternative perspective.
The statement from Skechers, which was published in early March, addressed a February 2020 report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, which alleged suppliers of Skechers in China were benefiting from the forced labor of Uygurs.
Skechers refuted ASPI's allegations of Uygur forced labor with internal audits, concluded Uygurs employees have equal pay and working conditions as their fellow workers, and can leave whenever they choose.
"Neither of these audits revealed any indications of the use of forced labor, either of Uygurs or any other ethnic or religious group, nor did the audits raise any other concerns about general labor conditions," the company wrote in its statement.