Manufacturing Towns in China

The cover photo portrays factory street recruitment in 2018. Factories have been forced to recruit rural migrant workers more actively than ever before, due to the acute labor shortage. Every day in the months after China’s Spring Festival, factory recruiters line up their booths on village retail streets and compete to hire as many rural migrants as possible

Yue Gong

Manufacturing Towns in China

The Governance of Rural Migrant Workers

Yue GongShenzhen Graduate SchoolPeking UniversityShenzhen, Guangdong, China

ISBN 978-981-13-3371-2 ISBN 978-981-13-3372-9 (eBook)https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3372-9

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018962247

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2019This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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To my parentsGong Liqiang

Chen Qiongyao

vii

Acknowledgements

It took the best part of a decade to turn my initial idea for doctoral research on migrants and Chinese cities into this book. Over that time frame, many people have supported me. Chinese rural migrants are cer-tainly the first group to whom I feel indebted. Their kindness to me in my field studies and the struggle, resistance, and resilience that punc-tuates their day-to-day lives inspired my research and encouraged me to complete both my dissertation and this book. I cannot express my appreciation to them through this English-language book but I do hope that this record and analysis of their lives in manufacturing towns will be memorable and perhaps beneficial in a long-term process of social progress.

I remain grateful to my dissertation committee members at the University of Washington. Since the very beginning, Daniel Benjamin Abramson has guided my research, shared his sage advice and insights, and continuously encouraged me in this project. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Kam Wing Chan for sharing his profound knowledge on urbanization and industrialization. Robert Mugerauer steadily supported my research on migrants and was always willing to share his wisdom with me. Susan Whiting’s conscientious approach to

viii Acknowledgements

research set the bar very high and was a model for me in the compila-tion of my dissertation and this book. The support and inspiration of these mentors and other scholars, including Qin Shen and Anne Vernez Moudon, was instrumental in my development as a scholar and in the perseverance needed to complete the book.

Along the research journey, my friends and classmates provided me with a solid foundation to improve my research. My two roommates, Zhou Yang and Huimin Guo, in Seattle created a home-like living atmosphere. I also received great support from my spiritual friends: Qiang Fu, Qiong Wu, Kevin Wang, Erhchia Wei, Yu-hsuan Su, Andy Lu, Ron Perng, Eleanor Yu, Thomas Liu, Gracie Liu, Pei-Ching Liu, Claire Wu, Joya Chen, Linda Shen, Jane Tsung-chieh Fu, Derrick Shen, Xiaomin Wang, Tiger Liao, Zhuo Wang, Grace Huang, and many more, too numerous to mention here. My great appreciation also goes to Seling Mao, William Buckingham, Feiyue Ma, Jin Hyun Hong, Jan Brooks, Wei Zuo, Cory John, Chuangho Kim, Susmita Rishi, Chad Matheny, Jannifer Hope McCharen, Panle Jia Barwick, Haibin Liang, and Shoupeng Deng. In particular, I would like to thank my colleague, Ian MacLachlan, who advised on research details, answered questions on a variety of topics, and carefully revised my writing.

I want to thank the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program, the Urban Design and Planning Department, and the China Studies Program at the University of Washington. These programs provided great help for my study and research. I also want to thank Charles Waldheim and Martin Zogran, whose recommendations helped me to pursue my doc-toral research.

Finally, I would like to express my greatest thanks to my extended family: my parents, my father- and mother-in-law, my lovely wife and, last to arrive but first in our thoughts, my new-born daughter. Your love, patience, and support are beyond what I can describe in either English or Chinese. In a Chinese style of greeting to my loved ones, I hope that they will enjoy good health and the accomplishment of all their fondest wishes.

ix

Contents

1 Introduction: Governance, Rural Migrants, and Manufacturing Towns 1

Part I Rise of Manufacturing Towns

2 Development of Manufacturing Towns in the 1980s and 1990s 27

3 Filtering Rural Migrants as Cheap Labor: Three Authorities’ Governance 45

Part II Transformation of Manufacturing Towns

4 Retail Streets: Recruiting Low-Skilled Migrants in Villages 85

5 Rental Housing: Surveillance of Rural Migrants 111

x Contents

6 Central Squares: Guiding Rural Migrants in Planned Public Space 141

Part III Revolution of Manufacturing Towns

7 An Eco-High-Tech Town: Governing Rural Migrants to Become Skilled Workers 179

8 Resisting Governance: Production of Rural Migrants’ Selves 215

9 Conclusion: Governance and Manufacturing Towns in Continuous Reforms 253

Appendices 267

Index 275

xi

Abbreviations

CCCCP Central Committee of the Chinese Communist PartyCCP Chinese Communist PartyCCTV Closed-Circuit TelevisionCRP Custody and Repatriation ProcedureDIPC Dongguan Intermediate People’s CourtDJ Disc JockeyDLRD Department of Land and Resources of GuangdongDPAF Department of People’s Armed ForcesDPS Dongguan Polytechnic SchoolDRCCCPH Dongguan Research Center of Chinese Communist Party

HistoryDSB Dongguan Statistics BureauDTYIT Dongguan Twenty Year Investigation TeamDUPB Dongguan Urban Planning BureauDVEC Dongguan Vocational Education CenterFDI Foreign Direct InvestmentGDP Gross Domestic ProductGOSC General Office of the State CouncilGVC Gunjingtou Village CommitteeHIV Human Immunodeficiency VirusHPM Hukou-Based Police Management

xii Abbreviations

ID IdentificationITFS Investigation Team of Foxconn SuicidesKTV Karaoke ClubLVC Lianhu Village CommitteeMBA Master of Business AdministrationNBSC National Bureau of Statistics of ChinaNCCCP National Congress of the Chinese Communist PartyNHIDZ National High-Tech Industrial Development ZoneNHK Nippon Hoso Kyokai or Japan Broadcasting CorporationNIP Northern Industrial ParkNPCC National People’s Congress of ChinaOLVCC Organic Law of Village Committees of ChinaPRD Pearl River DeltaPSM Public Security MinistryPTLH Point Test for Local HukouQVC Qinghutou Village CommitteeRHM Rental Housing ManagementSAC Songshanhu Administration CommitteeSCC State Council of ChinaSRPMSC Sunny Rain Party Member Service CenterSVC Sicun Village CommitteeTDP True Dream PlanTRC Temporary Resident CardTVE Town and Village EnterpriseVPT Village Police TeamXSMB Xinguanren Service and Management BureauYVC Youganpu Village Committee

xiii

Chinese Terms

baoshengong 包身工 (indentured worker without pay)chanye zhuanyi gongyeyuan 产业转移工业园 (transferred-industry zone)Chaoyang qunzhong 朝阳群众 (Chaoyang Masses)chengzhongcun 城中村 (villages in the city or urban village)dazibao 大字报 (big-character poster)danwei 单位 (work unit)dazhuan 大专/大学专科 (college specialty)di fu fan huai you 地富反坏右(landlords, rich farmers,

antirevolutionaries, bad-influencers, and rightists)diaoyu de 钓鱼的 (“fishing people” or burglar)e’shou fangdong 二手房东 (secondary landlord)gongchang jia 工厂价 (“factory price” or low price offered by

factories)gaozhi/gaodeng zhiye 高职/高等职业 (higher vocation)guangchangwu 广场舞 (square dance)hexie shehui 和谐社会 (harmonious society)hukou 户口 (household registration)jiedao 街道 (urban subdistricts)jifen ruhu 积分入户 (point test for local hukou)jingji lianhe she 经济联合社 (economic cooperative)jiqi huanren 机器换人 (replacement of workers with robots)

xiv Chinese Terms

kexue wenhua 科学文化 (science and culture)liudong renkou 流动人口 (floating population)mangliu 盲流 (“blind flow,” vagrants, or aimless

migration)mu 亩 (areal measure equal to approximately 667

square meters)nongmingong 农民工 (rural migrant worker)nongjia shuwu 农家书屋 (farmers’ reading room)wan 玩 (“play,” enjoy or consume)pugong 普工 (low-skilled worker or laborer)qunzhong gongzuo 群众工作 (mass work)qunzhong luxian 群众路线 (mass line)rencai 人才 (talented people or workers)renmin wuzhuang bu 人民武装部 (Department of People’s Armed

Forces)sanjiu gaizao 三旧改造 (redevelopment of three types of

dilapidated rural settings: towns, villages, and factory buildings)

Sanhe Dasheng 三和大神(Sanhe God)sanlai yibu 三来一补 (foreign investment in forms of

processing, assembling, and compensation trade)sanzi qiye 三资企业 (three forms of foreign-financed

enterprises including equity joint ventures, contractual joint ventures, and wholly foreign-owned ventures)

san tong yi ping: 三通一平(establishment of the infrastructure of water, electricity, and motor roads)

shuang zhuanyi 双转移 (“Two Transfers” or transfers of both factories and rural migrants)

shenti 身体 (physical or body)sixiang daode 思想道德 (morality)Songshanhu 松山湖 (pine mountain lake)suzhi 素质 (“quality” or a set of degrees or attributes of

human spirits, morality, values, education, skills, physical bodies, etc.)

suzhi jiaoyu 素质教育(education of quality)teng long huan nia 腾笼换鸟(“empty cages and transfer birds” or

reclaim territories and transfer migrant labor)

Chinese Terms xv

tudi miao 土地庙 (Land-God temple)tufei 土匪 (bandit)wenming 文明 (civility)wu lei ren 五类人 (five populations or groups)xiaokang shehui 小康社会 (“well-off” or moderate prosperity

society)xiaoqu 小区 (urban residential compounds or gated

communities)xingfu Guangdong 幸福广东 (happiness of Guangdong)Xinguanren 新莞人 (New Dongguan People or New

Dongguan Citizen)Xin Houniao Jihua 新候鸟计划 (“New Migrant Bird Plan” or New

Rural Migrant Children Plan)Xin Shimin 新市民 (New Urban Citizen)yao zhifu, xian xiulu 要致富, 先修路 (construction of roads to be

rich)yuan 元 (Chinese currency)Yuan Meng Jihua 圆梦计划 (“True Dream Plan” or Guangdong

Migrant Workers Cultivation and Development Plan)

zhi’an yuan 治安员 (auxiliary police officer or informal town/village police officer)

zhi’an dui 治安队 (village police team)zuzhi junshihua, xingdong zhandouhua, shenghuo jitihua 组织军事化, 行动战斗化, 生活集体化

(militarized organizations, combat-like actions, and collectivization of lives)

zhili 智力 (intelligence)

xvii

List of Figures

Fig. 1.1 Map of manufacturing towns in Dongguan 15Fig. 2.1 Spatial patterns of towns and villages 32Fig. 2.2 Artery-oriented and polarized pattern 35Fig. 2.3 Housing types in villages 38Fig. 4.1 Map of Barn Village 88Fig. 4.2 Factory recruitment on the street 95Fig. 5.1 Master plan of Sidehill residential compound 122Fig. 5.2 Alley and floor plans of apartment buildings 123Fig. 5.3 Surveillance camera, entrance guard, and indoor monitoring 125Fig. 6.1 Central square of the town of Chang’an 153Fig. 7.1 Master plan of Songshanhu: three subzones of the core,

inner ring, and outer ring 190Fig. 7.2 Training class in the SRPMSC 197Fig. 7.3 Building types in Songshanhu 205Fig. 8.1 Rural migrants resting in a street park 232Fig. 8.2 Young rural migrants imitating urban consumption 239

xix

List of Tables

Table 1.1 Examples of manufacturing towns in coastal areas 12Table 7.1 Disposition of people and built environment 204