…while falling wages hit state enterprise reform

20 July 1998

…while falling wages hit state enterprise reform

NEW Chinese premier Zhu Rongjis ambition to reform state enterprises has fallen victim to more immediate problems, reports the Financial Times.

One of these is flagging consumer spending in a rural economy of 900m people who are responsible for 40% of consumer purchases.

The report says spending is being depressed by declining farm wages and plunging produce prices because of an agricultural glut.

• Financial Times 20/07/98 page 4