Piling on the inequities

Gross economic inequality is one of the biggest problems threatening China's stability, and an issue President Hu Jintao has taken up as a cornerstone of his administration.

By Sheridan Prasso, Fortune

(Fortune Magazine) -- Gross economic inequality is one of the biggest problems threatening China's stability, and an issue President Hu Jintao has taken up as a cornerstone of his administration. In major speeches and policy addresses he has called for the creation of a "harmonious society," signaling the central government's desire to reduce the gap between the wealthy Chinese elite and the working class, who have seen far fewer benefits from the country's torrid economic growth.

But wealth redistribution has been slow, and anger has been welling - the latest national outrage rising in June after police freed several hundred children and adults who were found working in slave-like conditions at more than a dozen brick kilns and factories in Shanxi and Henan provinces, including the one above.

Internet campaigns by parents looking for their missing or abducted children sparked feisty media reports, prompting Beijing to order raids on the kilns, which were operating with the protection of local officials. Laborers had been lured from train and bus stations with the promise of good pay and working conditions, but instead were beaten, poorly fed, underpaid and forcibly kept from leaving.

Government officials then ordered a nationwide, two-month crackdown on illegal labor practices. Legislators also approved a law in late June revising standards for labor contracts, use of temporary workers, and severance pay. With the upcoming 17th Party Congress this fall, the twice-a-decade event that sets China's national policy agenda and chooses the Communist Party's top leadership, Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao must surely be hoping the slave-labor scandal passes quickly.  Top of page

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.