每日英语：Rising Wages Pose Dilemma For China

China is showing rapid increases in wages and signs of resilience in hiring despite slowing growth, a reassuring sign for leaders seeking to put more money in the pockets of ordinary Chinese, but a trend that could prove difficult to sustain as countries nearby threaten to encroach on China's manufacturing dominance.

resilience：恢复力，弹力　　　　reassuring：安心的，安慰的，可靠的　　　　encroach：侵占，蚕食

dominance：优势，统治，支配

Chinese private-sector wages rose 14% in 2012, data showed Friday, good news overall for Beijing's push to make consumer spending a more important part of growth. But higher labor costs also hurt business profitability and export competitiveness─which could pose its own risks to the economic recovery.

profitability：利润率

Countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia and Vietnam have all ramped up their garment sectors as global retailers look for alternatives to China.

ramped up：加足马力　　　　alternatives：替代选择，可选方案　　　　garment：服装，衣服  

Crystal Group, an apparel producer for Marks & Spencer, MKS.LN +2.34% Abercrombie & Fitch, ANF +1.73% and Gap, says it has more than tripled its staff in Vietnam over the past three years, but made only small increases in its China workforce. 'It's a simple matter of economics for us,' says Andrew Lo, CEO of the Hong Kong-based company, as it becomes less cost-effective to make basic t-shirts and jeans in China.

apparel：服装，衣服　　　　

The 14% wage rise for private-sector workers in 2012, reported by China's National Bureau of Statistics on Friday, represented an acceleration from 12.3% in 2011. Over the period, China's annual economic growth rate slowed to 7.8% from 9.3%.

A recent spate of accidents, including a factory-building collapse in Bangladesh that killed more than 1,100, has focused new attention on a shift away from China as costs rise there.

spate：洪水，泛滥，大量的　　　　

Some experts say worries that China is pricing itself out of its manufacturing edge may be overblown. Supply-chain linkages, strong infrastructure and access to China's own market make the case for keeping a foothold. Overall, most manufacturers operating in China are still profitable even though their margins are being squeezed, says Nigel Knight, who heads Ernst & Young's advisory practice for greater China.

overblown：停息的，过分的　　　　foothold：据点，立足点　　　　squeeze：压榨，紧握

'I don't see a huge rush for the doors,' says Mr. Knight. 'The underlying strategic rationale for manufacturing in China is still very powerful.'

Meanwhile, job creation and wage increases are a key focus for China's leaders. In the past, turbocharged growth was seen as essential to creating enough employment opportunities for a swelling workforce. On a visit to the northern city of Tianjin this week, China's top leader, Xi Jinping, signaled a continued focus on employment by visiting a local job-training center and pledging to improve services for job seekers.

swelling：膨胀的，增多的　　　　pledging：保证，抵押

Continued strength in the labor markets suggests that China can now create sufficient jobs to shore up social stability with a significantly lower pace of growth. 'Strength in the labor markets means there is less need for short-term stimulus measures,' said RBS China economist Louis Kuijs.

Big increases in wages also help the rebalancing of China's economy─a key objective for the new leadership. With growth in wages outstripping the rest of the economy, households' slice of the pie is getting bigger. The government hopes that will drive higher levels of consumption, helping wean the economy off its addiction to exports and investment as drivers of growth.

outstrip：超过，胜过　　　　

Rising manufacturing costs in China were one reason private-equity firm Grumman Hill Group LLC decided to put shoe maker Aerosoles up for sale this year, a person familiar with the matter said. The Edison, N.J.-based shoe company makes virtually all of its products in China, but wage inflation there is pressuring margins, this person said.

Wages in the China's manufacturing sector have risen 71% since 2008, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Improvements in labor productivity, which the World Bank estimates is growing at about 8.3% a year, offset some but not all of the wage growth.

An executive with Guangdong Sunrise Houseware Corp.─a maker of high-end kitchenware for export─said last year the firm's labor costs rose at least 30%. 'We have more than 600 workers, many of them left last year,' he said. 'When you hire new people you found that the average wage level had already risen.'

With that experience replicated across China's factories, industrial profits contracted for much of 2012. Export growth fell to 7.9% from 20.3% in 2011, as Chinese firms lost out to Vietnam and other low-cost competitors. That suggests China's leaders face a tough choice between keeping wages on a rising trend to boost household income, and controlling costs for the manufacturers that create many of the mainland's jobs.

contracted：合同规定的，收缩的　　　　

Other data show signs the strength extended into this year despite a continuing slowdown. Data made available to The Wall Street Journal from Zhaopin.com, one of China's largest recruitment websites, shows the total number of jobs advertised rose 24.6% in April from a year earlier. At the same time, government data showed demand for workers outstripping supply by a record amount in the first quarter.

A migrant worker from Wuhan in central China who gave his surname as Chang is one who has benefited. In February he quit his job at an auto-parts factory in the southern city of Shenzhen because the monthly salary of 2,800 yuan ($455) didn't meet his expectations. In April, after a month of searching, he found a new job making shells for cellphones, with a take-home pay of 4,200 yuan a month. 'I'm not very anxious to find a job so it took a while,' said Mr. Chang.

Not all the most recent indicators on labor markets have been positive. China's official purchasing managers' index, and a similar survey by HSBC Holdings HSBA.LN +1.28% PLC and business survey firm Markit Economics both suggest some factories laid off workers in April.

A spokesman for Zhaopin.com also pointed to signs that hiring had eased off going into the second quarter. 'Many companies are pessimistic about the Chinese market in 2013, and that is passing through to recruitment plans,' said a spokesman for the company, 'after a hiring peak in the first quarter sentiment has deteriorated somewhat.'

'So far we haven't seen unemployment rates going up, with real estate, infrastructure, and services supporting strong job creation,' said Haibin Zhu, China economist at J.P. Morgan JPM +2.61% . 'But wage growth can't be sustained without profit growth. If the corporate sector remains weak, rapid wage growth will be difficult to sustain.'