By Li Qian (chinadaily.com.cn)
GUANGZHOU -- The mega city of Guangzhou, plagued by chronic traffic congestion, is solving the problem with an extensive underground rail system.
A port city in South China, Guangzhou will have subway lines totaling more than 230 kilometers by 2010, which is expected to land the city in the Top Ten group of the world's longest subways. In 2020, there will be 20 routes in the city extending at least 500 km, according to city planners.
Guangzhou became the fourth city in the Chinese mainland to have metro lines in 1997 after Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin. The southern city currently runs four lines with a total of 116 kilometers, carrying 1.8 million commuters every day, said Chen Bo, spokesman of the Guangzhou Metro group.
Now with seven new subway lines under construction, Guangzhou Metro has taken on the responsibilities of ensuring smooth transportation during the upcoming Asian Games. "Eighty percent of the 2010 Asian Games venues will be connected to the convenient subway lines when Guangzhou hosts the grand event," Chen said.
Crisis prompts steps to pre-empt worker unrest
By Tom Mitchell in Dongguan
Late last week, outside the gates of a recently closed shoe factory, two migrant workers got into a heated exchange about the rapidly evolving social compact between government and labour in China's manufacturing heartland.
"I worked here for six years, and others for more than 10. Who is going to compensate us?" asked Xu Miao, who by law is owed one month's salary for every year he was employed by the Weixu Shoe Factory in Dongguan, a manufacturing centre in southern Guangdong province. Mr Xu's boss absconded on November 1, abandoning a 4,000-strong workforce that had not been paid for at least two months and suppliers claiming debts of Rmb100m ($14.7m, €11.3m, £9.3m).
"This is not a state-owned enterprise," countered Gao Shengui, a taxi driver. "You shouldn't bother the government about it. It is a matter between you and a private company. "
As they confront the impact of a slowing global economy on the factories that have flooded the world with cheap Chinese goods, local governments across the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong are increasingly coming round to Mr Xu's point of view.
When the economy was buoyant officials in the delta - which accounts for one-third of China's exports - were inclined to take a laisser faire approach to industrial disputes. But now that they find themselves on the frontline of China's slowdown, they are adopting a more interventionist posture to pre-empt potential social unrest in their own backyard. Emergency funds to pay workers' salaries are being established and officials are actively monitoring factories to identify troubled ones before they go bust.
Gov't foots shoe firm's wage bill
As old industry bites the dust new sectors begin to bloom
Editor:Sharon Lee
DONGGUAN, Guangdong: Carrying a super-large suitcase filled with clothes and a duvet, Yan Libin began his second endeavor as a migrant worker in Dongguan.
Jumping out of the train on Saturday, the 25-year-old headed directly to a tri-weekly recruitment fair featuring about 100 companies in the square just outside the railway station.
That was the same place where he easily found a job in a clothing factory six year ago, when he first got to Dongguan.
But this time, the Hunan native - who left his job in 2005 to help set up an Internet caf in his hometown - was not so lucky.
"I was surprised to find there were so many recruiters from hi-tech and service industries," Yan said, noting most were from manufacturing enterprises six years ago.
He is spot on, as Dongguan is undergoing a transformation from a low-cost manufacturing hub to a technology- and capital-intensive production and research center.
