Economic tribulations reverberate in China

Many rethinking US capitalism

SHENZHEN, China - The gray waters around the port of Yantian are ominously empty. It's supposed to be peak season here, a time when the docks are filled with exporters shoveling holiday goods onto freighters bound for the United States.

Instead, irritated workers stand idle, smoking and complaining that business is so slow that their income has dropped by two-thirds because of the deteriorating US economy, with which this region is so closely linked.

The community that once bragged about its close ties to the United States now rues them.

Li Hongguo, 36, who was ferrying a load of handbags from a factory to the port, said that last year he made one or two runs a day. These days he's lucky to get one job every three or four days.

"America is the boss of the world, so if it does badly, it affects everyone else," Li said.

Nowhere is this view more pervasive than here in China's Pearl River delta, where the majority of companies exist with the single goal of producing products for US consumers.

Economists say China and the United States are like conjoined twins. "The two economies are mutually reliant and mutually influential," said Hua Min, director of Fudan University's Institute of World Economy.

Once the envy of the nation for its abundant jobs and high wages, Shenzhen is experiencing an economic downturn in tandem with the United States.

The US economic problems have shaken the foundation of what many Chinese were taught in the 30 years of Communist leader Deng Xiaoping's "reform and opening up" campaign, which was built around the idea, as Deng famously said, that "to get rich is glorious."

Ever since Shenzhen was honored with becoming the country's first special economic zone in 1979, residents of the area have been China's keepers of the American dream. Today some are reconsidering the benefits of state-run support.