US accusation that China 'steals' jobs is 'groundless': Expert

The United States’ accusation that China "steals" jobs and development opportunities from American workers is unreasonable and groundless, an expert said on Saturday.

Zhou Mi, deputy director of the Institute of America and Oceania of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, a government think tank, said that against the background of international industrial transfer, US industries were not directly transferred to China.

Since the 1970s, the US manufacturing industry began to transfer to countries and regions like Japan and the Republic of Korea. "China has only accepted industrial transfer from these countries or regions in recent years," Zhou said.

"The US accusations against China have played a certain trick. It is only in recent years that these economies start to transfer their industries to China,” Zhou told China Daily. “The US accusation against China, to some extent, plays a trick.”

There’s a growing trend that machines are replacing manpower as technology advances, Zhou said. Some sectors have been reducing the workforce, while multinationals have chosen to shift some of their production chains to other countries and regions, aiming to maximize profit from global cooperation.

"There is no evidence that China has ‘stolen’ employment opportunities from the US. This does not make sense," he added.

Zhou further stressed that China cannot serve as the world’s manufacturing center all the time.

"In the future, we also will need industrial upgrading and may also transfer certain production units to other countries," Zhou said.

China is only one component of the global industrial transfer and international cooperation, he added.