The Old Factories In South China Have Great Pressure.

How to survive in southern China's old factories? Some factories in the South China manufacturing core area, under the pressure of high cost and unstable demand, are now beginning to rely on a new way of survival: employing Japanese workers.

China wants to bid farewell to piecework and turn to a high-tech consumption economy.

But from the experience of Shiling and other places,

Perhaps a large number of small factories in the country will continue to serve as manufacturers of cheap shoes, toys and stainless steel pots in the next few years.

On a warm morning, dozens of job seekers gathered on a street in Shiling Town, bargaining with employers for 20 to 30 dollars a day's temporary job.

This scenario is far from the bright high-tech manufacturing industry that Beijing has conceived.

In this leather making town, local factory owners say temporary workers can retain their competitiveness, even though individuals say that daily wages will be higher than full time wages.

The workers are willing too, because many people worry that if the customer is gone, the factory that will provide long term work will not pay the wages.

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Huang Biliang, who runs a button factory, said, "we never recruit temporary workers before, because the cost of labor is not so high.

But recently, we began to recruit more temporary workers.

David Leung, manager of a stainless steel product factory near Jiangmen Town, also said, "every time you hire a long-term worker, you have more risks."

Faced with unstable orders and wage hikes, China

Some factories at the base have been restructured, which has enabled them to retain labour intensive jobs that would have gone to cheaper areas in Asia.

For China, this is a change.

The authorities have tried to curb the unstable form of employment and enforce stricter labour laws.

Hiring temporary workers is a gray area in law.

Despite the lack of statistics, academics and factory managers say the use of temporary workers has increased in southern China since the financial crisis, and has increased rapidly over the past two years.

Ben Sinpandorf, head of the Silk Road consultancy, said: "this shows that China may succeed in maintaining its manufacturing base."