CSSN-China’s economy crosses Lewis Turning Point

China’s economy crosses Lewis Turning Point

Author : Source : Chinese Social Sciences Today 2014-09-16

In 2004 amid a shortage of migrant workers in China’s coastal areas, scholars including Cai Fang said the trend symbolized the arrival of the Lewis Turning Point for China's economy. The theory refers to the point at which excess labor in the subsistence sector is fully absorbed into the modern sector, and where further capital accumulation begins to increase wages.

Speaking at a recent symposium in Beijing, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences vice president Cai again argued that China’s economy had breached the Lewis Turning Point. As a result of China's long-term low fertility rate, China's working-age population (15-59) has fallen. In response to labor shortages, local governments have raised the minimum wage and wages for unskilled workers annually, said Cai.

　　Translated by Ren Zhong

　　Revised by Tom Fearon

Editor: Du Mei