China Overseas Labor Survey： It’s not easy to live, and you are willing to endure hardships to earn money to support your family.

　　　　Global Times News China laborers can be seen on road construction sites in the desert of North Africa, mining sites far away from towns in South Asia, and farms in Russian sparsely populated Far East forest areas. The recent kidnapping of China workers in Nigeria has made people pay more and more attention to the living conditions of this special group around the world. According to statistics, from January to October, 2006, there were 274,000 people working abroad in Chinese through labor export intermediary companies. So far, there are about 3.75 million people working abroad in Chinese, not including illegal workers. China’s overseas workers all over the world feel the warmth and coldness of this planet every day.

　　　　As the Tianjin Municipal Government sent personnel to Malaysia to solve the problem on the spot, the incident of China workers stranded in Malaysia finally came to light. The hero behind the Tianjin Municipal Government’s appearance is Shen Yongxian (pictured left), head of the Consular Section of the Malaysian Embassy in China. In the picture, he is a reporter from China News Service, and on the right is Ren Xiping, a famous worker representative and a labor representative from China. China News Agency issued Su Xiangxin photo

　　　　Close the door as soon as the local employees leave.

　　　　At present, there are many descriptions of the security situation in Iraq in the media of various countries. The personal experience of the Global Times reporter is that when the US military searched houses in Baghdad before, they confiscated all the guns they saw. Now that they have found the gun, they first take care of it. When they leave the house, they first withdraw all the bullets in the gun chamber and magazine, and then return the bullets to the homeowner. The intention is obviously to leave the homeowner with an open hand. In addition, the Global Times reporter received reliable information that in recent days, the US military will launch a rare large-scale military operation to completely raze the militia forces of various sects in Iraq. In Sadr City, a Shiite settlement not far from Baghdad, all men between the ages of 15 and 45 were recruited into the Mahdi Army to cope with the US military’s clean-up at any time.

　　　　Faced with this situation, how does Chinese, who works in Iraq, live? At present, besides diplomats, there are about 20 Chinese working in Baghdad. Among them, more than 10 people belong to a domestic communication company. This company sold program-controlled telephone exchanges to Iraq. Most of them are technicians who are responsible for after-sales service, and their monthly salary is about 1,000 dollars. They rented a villa in Baghdad and lived in seclusion. Daily necessities are purchased by local people, and travel is by car. In addition, there are four China employees and several local associates in the China Mall opened by a China businessman in Baghdad. Arguably, it is more economical to use local people, because their monthly salary ranges from $100 to $250, while the salary of employees in China is higher than theirs. However, the local people are not very skilled in all aspects, and they are not punctual. As long as they have money today, they will definitely not go to work tomorrow until they run out of money. Of course, you can’t do without locals. This China businessman was once kidnapped in Baghdad, and he was kidnapped if the local people didn’t shoot to save him. Afterwards, he asked his employees to buy hundreds of bullets and distributed them to those who had saved themselves, so that they could defend themselves. Since then, shopping malls have only been open when local employees are present. As soon as they left, the mall closed. All employees in China can’t leave the mall at ordinary times, and they must be accompanied by local colleagues when necessary. As I heard that the war is coming, the shopping mall has prepared enough rice, noodles and oil for one or two months. The monosodium glutamate, soy sauce and vinegar that everyone eats every day are all shipped from China.Once the war breaks out again, these China employees will go to the Embassy of China for temporary shelter or temporary travel to Kurdish areas in northern Iraq. As the security situation in the three Kurdish-controlled provinces is relatively stable, there are hundreds of Chinese there at present. Among them, there are more than 70 oil workers from the northeast. They provide technology, manpower and equipment to extract oil for Norwegian oil companies on the border between Iraq and Turkey. These oil workers can earn more than 1,000 dollars a month, but they live under the heavy protection of the Kurdish military and police, and outsiders can’t get close to them, and it is difficult for them to get in touch with the local society.

　　　　Workers only earn money to support their families.

　　　　Compared with Iraq, there are many more Chinese working in Algeria. Peng Guichen, the labor service director of China Construction Group in Algeria, said that on the construction site in Algeria, China Construction Group brought more than 9,000 China workers, mainly carpenters, bricklayers, steel workers, plumbers and mechanics. Most of these people come from rural areas, and their family conditions are not very good. The purpose of working in Algeria is very simple, that is, to earn money for their families.

　　　　According to the regulations, these China workers can get $7.50 for completing the labor quota for each working day. Some can complete more than two quotas a day. If the daily quota reaches 2.3, the company will also reward individuals with another 1,000 dinars (US$ 1 is about 75 dinars). Generally speaking, everyone can earn 500-600 dollars a month, and more can earn 700-800 dollars. There are also those who are not skilled, and they can earn 400 dollars a month. The money is paid every six months, and it is paid directly to the families of these workers. Peng Guichen said that it usually takes four or five months to get the wages for the projects undertaken by China Construction, because Algeria implements foreign exchange control, and only when the money is remitted to the personal account of China Bank, Paris Branch, can these workers get their wages. These wages are remitted by the bank to the workers’ homes. According to the regulations, the first sum of money must be remitted before September 1 every year to ensure that the children of workers can have tuition fees to go to school; The second sum of money must be remitted to the family before the Spring Festival every year, in order to make the family have money for the New Year. Of course, the money remitted home is only 60% of the salary. The rest will be filled by the company at one time after the workers return home. In the local area, it is cheaper to see a doctor. Because the workers are covered by medical insurance, they are free to see a doctor in the local hospital, and they have to pay for the medicine themselves. See a cold, about 30-50 yuan RMB. In addition, each person receives 5,000-5,500 dinars a month to buy daily necessities. Many workers smoke. They usually buy the cheapest cigarettes in the local area, each of which is about RMB in 60 yuan.Most China workers working in Algeria have mobile phones. They bring them out of China and buy prepaid cards locally. It’s less than 20 cents a minute to make an international call to Beijing. In the local area, the cost of eating is big, and each worker has to eat 3,500 dinars per month. Chefs brought from China are responsible for cooking at each construction site.

　　　　Because these workers working abroad can only sign contracts for two years at a time, except for a few incompetent people who go back abroad in advance, everyone will return home at the end of two years. Living abroad for a long time, these workers are not rich in their spare time. Everyone 6-8 people live in a house of 17 square meters and sleep in bunk beds. Everyone usually plays cards, chess and watches videos after work. The workers can’t understand local TV programs, but only CCTV 4 can watch them. Peng Guichen said that the company strictly prohibits playing mahjong, and once found, it will be fined 20-50 US dollars. There are also workers who urinate near local residential areas, causing dissatisfaction among local residents. The company will severely criticize these people and take them to apologize. Peng Guichen said that it is also necessary to educate everyone not to go shirtless in summer, not to drink water and smoke in front of local workers during Ramadan, and to go to the streets with several people. In Algeria, the danger is not without it. In Aindifra province, 67 workers from Jiangsu Nantong Wujian are currently building two dams in the mountains. Due to local terrorist attacks, these China workers live in an enclosed yard. The local government sends gendarmes and armed militia to stand guard around the yard 24 hours a day, and four gun towers have been built at the four corners of the yard. Workers in China have to go to work in vans, escorted by gendarmes and armed militiamen. When the workers are working, the militia is responsible for keeping watch on the hills around the construction site. Last September, a gun battle broke out between anti-government armed men and the militia on sentry duty. Fortunately, the focus of their attack was not on China workers.But the local gendarmerie and militia. Afterwards, the local government also sent armored vehicles to escort for some time.

　　　　Feel the difference between Pakistan and Russia

　　　　In South Asia, China workers are mainly distributed in Pakistanis and Afghans. According to reports, there are about 3,000 to 4,000 China engineers in Pakistan, mainly engineers and experts. Master Zhang, who works in a building materials company, told the Global Times reporter that when he first came to Pakistan more than 10 years ago, it took him a long time to write a letter before receiving a reply. Now, satellite receivers have been installed in the construction site, and you can watch them as long as you are on the satellite TV. In their spare time, workers can play billiards and table tennis. Even ordinary workers earn six or seven hundred dollars a month. In terms of safety, there is no problem in general places, but there are some special places. For example, Shandak Copper Mine, located in the northwest of Baluchistan Province, near the Iranian-Afghan border, is a relatively dangerous area with more than 300 China engineers. A person in charge of MCC Resources Development Co., Ltd., which leases and operates the Sandak copper mine, told the Global Times reporter that the company helps local schools to improve teaching facilities and provide funds for children of nearby villagers to receive education free of charge on the premise that enterprises can afford it; Build power supply facilities to provide free power supply for nearby villagers; Purchase special vehicles to deliver purified water to nearby villages for free, and provide safe and sanitary domestic water for more than 1,100 nearby villagers, border guards, local armed forces and police for free; Free medical treatment for villagers in surrounding areas. Because the local people really feel the sincerity of Chinese, they will take the initiative to inform the Chinese side to be more careful when suspicious people approach the workers’ residence in China. The safety of workers in China is thus guaranteed.

　　　　In Russia, to the north of China, the situation is not quite the same. Many Chinese who work there are vegetable growers and loggers, and some of them are construction workers. Growing vegetables requires a greenhouse in the local area. Most of Chinese directly builds a greenhouse with wooden strips in the ground, with plastic film outside, a stove inside at night, and sawdust buried underground to make a "fire dragon". In terms of accommodation, there are permanent buildings in the field where conditions are good, so you can clean them up. The poor conditions are only simple houses built with wooden boards and live directly in the ground. The interlayer is separated from the cold air outside by plastic film. Generally, there are wells and power sources in the fields, but most of the farms have no heating equipment, and they all burn wood to keep warm. In contrast, loggers work harder. Their monthly salary is only 150-200 dollars. Because logging is mostly in the cold season, it is difficult for workers to have a fixed residence. Sometimes they build a shack and sometimes find a useless trailer. Every morning, the workers cook a pot of rice with enamel pots on the bonfire, or make some rotten stews and bake some ice steamed buns for breakfast. When working, you should clear the field in the waist-deep snow around you, and then cut down the big trees.

　　　　High prices make it difficult for workers to feel happy.

　　　　Compared with China’s major destination countries, Nigeria has undoubtedly attracted the most attention recently. There are more than 300 China enterprises in Nepal, whose investment scope covers oil, ports, home appliances, mobile phones and other fields. Xiao Zhang, who works in a domestic communication company, said that he and his colleagues are basically working in the wild. It is common to miss meals and baths, and it is not uncommon for mosquitoes to sway after biting. Not only that, they also have to try their best to have a good relationship with the communities around the construction site, otherwise the project often cannot be carried out. In Lagos and other big cities, due to poor road conditions, frequent power outages, basically no street lights at night, and few entertainment places suitable for Chinese to spend, coupled with occasional robbery cases, most China workers choose to stay indoors at night and "enjoy loneliness" alone. Many places where Chinese lives in concentration are barbed wire with high walls and large courtyards, which are guarded day and night by policemen with guns. Many people say that they are like "high-level prisons". Moreover, the prices of local vegetables and daily necessities are basically five to eight times higher than those in China. Take Chinese cabbage and green pepper, which people often eat in China, for example. Even at the cheapest time, they have to sell for 1 kg in 15 yuan, and it costs about $100 for two or three people to go to an ordinary Chinese restaurant for an ordinary meal. These undoubtedly affected the mood of China workers in Algeria to a certain extent, and greatly reduced their happiness in life. Many people lamented that it was not easy to live and work here.

Editor: Liu Li