Orders Decline, Wages Drop in Chinas Dongguan, Once a Buzzing Factory Hub, Residents Say

An employee making lithium ion batteries in a factory in Dongguan, China, on Oct. 16, 2018. Joyce Zhou/ReutersDongguan, a major city in China’s southern Guangdong province, was once renowned as a “high-wage manufacturing hub” but is now experiencing significant decline amid the nation’s sluggish economy. Companies are seeing fewer orders, and that’s leading to wage reductions, according to local workers and industry professionals who spoke to The Epoch Times in recent days.Zhao, a factory manager who gave only his last name out of fear of reprisal from the Chinese regime, said he has been working in the export business in Dongguan for more than 20 years. When he first arrived in the city, many factories posted recruitment advertisements at their entrances; but now some factories have left, leaving empty workshops, he said.