Visit To China—III GREAT ADVANCES FOUND IN PRODUCTION

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30897, 2 November 1965, Page 11

Visit To China—III GREAT ADVANCES FOUND IN PRODUCTION

f Specially written for “The

Press'" ‘by

C. V. WALTER,

who

recently spent five weeks in

China visiting Canton, Peking, Shanghai, Nangchow, Changsha and several rural districts.]

Industrial production since 1949 in China has advanced as spectacularly as agriculture, but not at the expense of the working people, whose conditions of work and living standards are continually improving. To visit the Shih Ching Shan iron and steel works on the western outskirts of Peking is to appreciate the nature of China’s modern development.

The construction of these works began in 1919, and iron was first poured in 1938. Originally there were only two blast furnaces, one for pig iron and one for coke, and the plant employed between 4000 and 5000 workers, a total which has swelled to 10,000 in 1965. The production target which the Five Year Plan for the 1953-57 perior required of the plant was fulfilled in three years and eight months, and in 1957 the production of pig iron was 6.7 times greater than in 1948, and coke 45.5 times greater. In 1958 the plant was expanded, and by 1960 a large blast furnace, a coke oven and a rolled steel workshop had been added. In addition the mining of iron ore was begun, the mine being some 200 kilometres from the plant. The closeness of this mine added fresh impetus to the rate of production. 3600. Tons A Day Today the combined capacity of the three blast furnaces which are used for iron is 3600 tons a day, and the three coke ovens produce 2000 tons a day. A conversion furnace for steel is at present under construction to add to the two already in existence; the daily output of the latter is 1000 tons for the two. Attached to the plant are workshops which manufacture steel products of small size in various grades, which include silicone, carbon and other alloys. One of these deals with steel plating some 2ft in width, shaping, welding and cutting it into lengths of tubing suitable for cars and trucks. All these processes are completely mechanised.

In steel production the iron is first brought to a temperature of 1500 degrees Centigrade, and is then poured into large rolling stock vats, which convey it by rail to the conversion furnace. This is oxygen heated, and raises the temperature of the iron to 1600 degrees Centigrade, the process taking 15 minutes The molten steel is then noured into moulds resembling enormous columns and <s left to cool after the slag has been raked off the liquid surface. Vast Mechanisation The extent and vastness of the mechanisation are breathtaking when one recalls China’s recent feudal and illiterate past: and the network of train lines and trains constantly reminds one of the size of this plant, which is regarded as being modest by the standards of those in Anshan, in the north-east of China.

Before 1949 the workers worked from 10 to 14 hours per day, without overtime pay. Under Japanese occupation they received no wages at all. They were given one cattie of grain per day if they were temporary workers, and two catties if they were permanent. The Kuomintang was more liberal. The wages equalled the price of six catties of millet, until inflation drastically reduced their value. Sacks were used for clothing, and their homes of primitive mud huts were not exactly sweet homes. Today the working week consists of 48 hours, and the average wage is 70 yuan per month. Workers’ flats cover some 300,000 square metres, and there is a hospital with 350 beds attached to the plant, and three clinics. There are 580 people who comprise the medical, nursing and administrative staff. Each workshop is equipped with rest rooms and bathrooms, and nurseries and workers’ clubs abound throughout the plant. Many Women Because of the extent of the mechanisation the workers are not exposed to much pressure. There are many women workers, and I spoke to one who was an outstanding university graduate in metallurgy, but who was re-

quired to work on the furnace floor throughout 1965 in accordance with the principle that the contradiction between manual and mental work must be eliminated. She seemed extremely enthusiastic, and said that she was enjoying herself and learning much, because there was much that the workers could teach her. A visit to one of the 13 dining rooms attached to the plant elicited the information that it catered for four visits a day. The kitchen was very clean, and the food appeared to be well cooked and tastefully presented. Use of the dining room is entirely voluntary, but is widespread, mainly because the majority of the workers are unmarried. The married workers usually have their meals at home.

Very similar is the improvement in the conditions of the waterside workers at the No. 5 wharf at the port of Shanghai on the Whangpoo river. There are 11 such wharves, and this one is some 1200 metres in length, being able to accommodate six ships of 10,000 tons each. It requires 1200 workers for loading and unloading, in addition to 500 technical and administrative workers. Before 1949 all the work was done by manual labour, but 75 per cent of the processes are now mechanised.

This wharf deals chiefly with the importing of chemical fertilisers and other agricultural necessities and certain industrial products, and with the exporting of machines and other steel products, textiles and foodstuffs.

The average turn-round time is two to three days for a 10.000-ton ship if the goods are in sacks and four to five days for machinery and other bulky cargo. Labour protection equipment is provided, much safety equipment has been installed, and the workers are educated in cautious methods of work. When a ship berths they are told the nature of its cargo, and they are left to plan the unloading. Workers’ Club

These workers are members of the Trade Union of Shanghai Port, which is affiliated to the National Seamen’s Union, the headquarters of which are in Peking. There are dining-rooms, bathrooms, nurseries, barbers’ shops and clinics (with five doctors) at this wharf, in addition to a club where the workers conduct their own music, dancing and drama groups, and films are shown regularly. Before 1949 these facilities did not exist, but a prison certainly did. The police and the army were invariably in close attendance, and arbitrary arrest was common. There was no job security, bad weather, sickness and old age meant no work—and no pay. The wages were below subsistence standard, and the hours of work varied from a minimum of 12 up to 16 and even 20. Members of the workers’ families sifted through garbage bins seeking articles which might be sold, and the children, for whom there was no schooling, polished shoes on the streets. Medical treatment was out of the question. This wharf belonged to Britain.

Today It is compulsory for the children to attend school at seven years of age. and many finish at a university. Overtime is forbidden during the 48-hour working week, and medical treatment is free. Those who are absent from work because of sickness receive full pay, and any family which has financial difficulty receives help from the union in the form of gifts—not loans—of money. The average wage with bonuses amounts to 90 yuan per month, and the union membership fee is 1 per cent of wages. Three shifts of eight hours each are worked, but 40 minutes of this time is free for meals, and in the summer there is a rest period of 20 minutes in every two hours. Male workers retire at 55 years of age, and female workers at 50 years of age, both on a pension amounting to 70 per cent of their wages. Illiteracy was eliminated by 1958. The Trade Union officials are elected yearly by the members of the union. At the end of a long scenic drive, reminiscent of the bush country of the Lewis Pass, from Hangchow is the Ping Fong Shan Workers’ Rest Home, for trade unionists from Shanghai. It is situated on a hillside in a magnificent, wooded setting, and it provides 870 beds for workers who are on holiday or require medical treatment, mostly for such ailments as arthritis, high blood pressure, stomach disorders, and post-operational convalescence. Keen On Poker

Workers on sick leave receive full pay up to six months’ absence, and 60 per cent to 100 per cent of their wages, according to their years of service, for a longer leave. Their, only costs are 50 per cent of the price of meals, and 50 per cent of the cost of travel from and to Shanghai. The rest home has its own buses for picnics and visiting beauty spots. They engage in chess and table tennis, they hold evening parties and are very keen on poker, it seems, and they receive lectures on public health. A large library is provided, and many discussions are held for the purpose of exchanging views on experiences and industrial knowledge. .The staff of 245 includes 26 doctors, and the gymnasium is well equipped. Although this rest home is more than three hours by train and car from Shanghai, it is an integral part of Shanghai’s industrial development. This concern for the welfare of people is consistent with the Chinese contention that people are more important than machines, and that this contention is the basis of increased production and a higher standard of living. Such rapid improvements in the conditions of the Chinese people have produced a morale which would surprise New Zealanders vastly, and have created a unity of support for the government which makes the retention in the United Nations of the Chiang Kai-shek group on Taiwan an insult to human intelligence in what is supposed. to be an enlightened way of life.