While North America and Europe were hard hit, China has resisted
the international crisis of 2008 thanks to a rescue plan which
combined huge public spending, a low interest rate and
consumption subsidies. China’s growth rate reached 9% in 2009
and 10.4% in 2010, dragging in its wake Asia and Latin America
out of the crisis. It has also managed to maintain unemployment
to a sustainable level. China even overtook Japan, in 2010, as
the second largest economy in the world in terms of GDP and it
is closing the gap with the US. On the whole, China’s rise seems
unaffected by the subprime crisis. A closer look shows that real
problems lie ahead. Chinese workers don’t accept
overexploitation any longer. A wave of strikes spread during the
summer of 2010. Workers were fighting for wage increases,
improvement of working conditions and the right to organize and
bargain. Inflation, especially of food products, which
accelerated since the middle of 2010, is adding a new problem
for workers and a concern for the governmen