It’s easy to make the case that labour standards in China aren’t on par with Western countries, like this article does.

But this kind of framing overlooks the tremendous improvements in China’s labour standards over the past 50 years — and how difficult that is to achieve from a position of subordination in the global economy.

Real wages in urban China have risen 25-fold since 1978. That’s nothing short of jaw-dropping.

It’s also worth pointing to other major improvements: stronger legal protections and labour laws, a decline in extreme exploitation, and expanded access to insurance and benefits.

These achievements are insanely impressive considering China was a poor country not long ago and took on a huge share of the precarious, low-cost jobs offshored from wealthy countries. One of the key reasons unions thrive in many wealthy countries is because China — and, increasingly, other Asian countries — have been doing the sweatshop work.

My home country, Norway, is a perfect example. Labour and capital have been on a honeymoon for decades in Norway, largely because hardly any jobs are exposed to international competition or the global “race to the bottom.”

Pundits in the West would be wise to understand the dynamics of the global economy before bashing labour standards elsewhere.

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