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While China has benefited from globalization by having foreign investments rate raised, along with wages being raised 10 percent in the last 10 years, it has been proven that countries that receive more multinational investment also seem to grow faster. Not only do these countries grow faster, but they also have less poverty and child labor. Once China began receiving multinational investment, it too began to have loss of poverty and less child labor. Unfortunately, Foxconn’s use of severe child labor didn’t help China in that aspect. Luckily there were dedicated activists around the world that made their voices heard, and demanded a change.
 * Summary:** China is one country that has felt the extreme benefits of globalization. The “surge” in foreign investment is what has driven economic growth in China to an all-time high. Yet, Foxconn, China’s main Apple supplier was reported to have forced overtime, child labor, minimum wage violations, and even unsafe working conditions. This Chinese supplier was giving Apple a bad reputation, but it was not Apple who was forceful in making Foxconn improve its working conditions, it was the students and the labor unions. And it was the pressure from the consumers that ignited a change in the working conditions for the Foxconn employees. Activists from the west made it their duty to insist that there be a change in the working conditions in China.


 * Evaluation:** It surprises me that factories in so many countries seem to abuse the rights of their employees. Paying less than minimum wage, using child labor, and supplying bad working conditions are what drove activists to try to make a change, and that is no surprise to me. Unfortunately, it’s sad how it is the American people who are really standing up against these actions of manufacturers in China, not the Chinese people. Although the article states that Apple is so much different from how it was in the 1990’s, it is to no surprise that the employees are still not being treated as fairly as they should, and would be here in America. I think one of the reasons that Apple is so profitable is not only because of its high-end and high-demand products, but also because of its low-end working conditions and benefits that are supplied to its employees… which are likely to be children.


 * Relevance:** The globalization in China brings opportunities and challenges, advantages and disadvantages (Peixin). Consumers across the world are benefitting from the somewhat low prices of the goods in China, but at what cost? As Americans, we own so many things that were manufactured in China. If you look at half of the toys or articles of clothing in your house, odds are if you check that tag it will say “Made in China”. Yet what not all Americans realize is that yes, that toy was made in China, but it was also made by a 6 year old working in a sweat shop. But still, it is these actions that have continued to cause economic growth in China, while other countries have little to no economic growth. Zha Peixin, a Chinese ambassador, said “Globalization is the objective trend of economic development today…” (Peixin), and he seems to be correct. The Chinese have realized that they cannot prosper by completely isolating themselves; they must collaborate with other countries to see all aspects of civilization. The employees of Foxconn are lucky that China realizes this and relies on integration with other countries, because if it didn’t there wouldn’t have been any communication between activists and the people at Apple, which could have left those unrelieved from the bad working conditions. There’s no denying that China has had enormous economic development and that is because it has accepted the great opportunities that globalization has presented to it.

1.) How many factories in China are still using child labor without the government finding out? 2.) If activists continue to take a stand, could it change how factories work around the world? 3.) Did Apple really take a stand against Foxconn, or did it only pretend to because of the consumer pressure? 4.) If Apple was reported to have child labor, bad conditions and illegal payment of less than minimum wage, who’s to say that other big manufacturers aren’t doing the same? 5.) Might there be sweat shops here in America that are using child labor that just hasn’t been revealed to the American public? Though that seems unlikely, how could we know for sure if factories in China are getting away with it still today? 6.) Is the main cause of the rise in China’s economic development really globalization? 7.) Consumer pressure and bad publicity are what led to the big changes by Apple, but if the media hadn’t revealed it’s wrong doings would it have ever made those changes?
 * Questions:**

"China and Globalization." //EMBASSY OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA IN THE UNITED KINGDOM OF THE GREAT BRITAN AND NORTHERN IRELAND//. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2012. []. "Globalization - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2012. . //The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2012. [].
 * Works Cited**