China Employer-Employee Survey (CEES) Report Launch Event was Held CEES Data Results Released for the First Time

On June 20, Wuhan University Institute of Quality Development Strategy, Chinese Enterprise Survey Data Center and Macro Quality Management Hubei Province Collaborative Innovation Center jointly launched theChina Employer-Employee Survey (CEES) Report. This is the world's first large-scale enterprise investigation in a developing country that involves two-way survey of both employer and employee.

Many domestic and foreign economists attended this event, such asProf. Li Hongbinof Stanford University, co-director of the China Enterprise Survey Data Center, Professor Albert ParkofHong Kong University of Science and Technology, Chairman of the CEES International Advisory Committee, Professor Wei Shangjin of Columbia University, Professor Loren Brandt from the Economics Department of University of Toronto, Professor Richard A. Posthuma of Texas University, Xu Lixin -- Chief Economist of World Bank Research Department, Professor Joshua Cohen of Apple University, professor Prashant LoyalkaofStanford University etc,.

At the meeting, Professor Chen Hong --Chairman of the CEES Management Committee, Director of the China Enterprise Survey Data Center and Director of the Institute of Quality Development Strategy -- made a detailed introduction to How to Deal with the Increase in Labor Costs in Chinese Manufacturing Enterprises – CEES report 2015-2016. The report shows that Chinese companies are responding to the challenges of labor costs by increasing R&D investment, optimizing business management, improving total factor productivity and relying on government innovation subsidies, industrial upgrading and optimization, and China isat acrucial stage oftransformation of the development mode.

It islearnt that the reportwasled by the Institute of Quality Development Strategy, andjointlyconducted byTsinghua University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Under the co-sponsorship of Cheng Hong, Du Yang (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences), Li Hongbin, Piao Zhishui,two large-scale surveys were carried outand implemented by China Enterprise Survey Data Center of theInstitute of Quality Development Strategy.The survey involved 1208 enterprises and 11366 employees intwo major manufacturingprovinces in botheastern Guangdong and central Hubei.

According to the survey, the averagemonthly income for China’s manufacturing workers in 2015 was 4216 yuan/month ($635), 20% of the United States ($3099), but higher than Malaysia ($538), Thailand ($438), Vietnam ($206), India ($136) and other emerging market countries. For employees who have worked for more than two years, the real wages of Guangdong manufacturing employees have increased by 8.3% from 2014 to 2015,higher than the 5.8% in 2013 to 2014. The actual wagefor university graduatesis 5276 yuan / month, 27% higherthan high school graduates(4168 yuan / month). One of the results of the tightening of the labor market in China is the high turnover rate, and the follow-up survey shows that the turnover rate for employees between 2014 and 2015 is 26%. The data show that the rising trend of Chinese employees' wageswill continue. Contrary to rumors, the wages ofuniversity studentsare higher than that of the migrant workers,and there is apositive correlation between education and income. The argument"college education is increasingly worthless"lackssufficient data support.

Howshould business deal with rising labor costs? The survey found that the total number of manufacturing enterprises in Guangdong fell by 2.2% between 2013 and 2014, down by 6.3% between 2014 and 2015, and the total number of manufacturingemployees in Hubei decreased by 3.3% between 2014 and 2015. The decline in the number of employees is mainly concentrated in the non-skilledsector. Responding to the pain of economic transition, companies are most likely to "abandon" non-skilled employees.

Laurent Brandt, Wei Shangjin, Xu Lixin and other experts and scholarsexpressedat the press conference thatCEES report provides a more comprehensive and real picture of China's manufacturing industry, reflecting thevalue of theongoing CEES, this survey will provide rich data support for empirical research and policy development.