![]() ![]() The delta spreads around the Pearl River estuary in Guangdong Province, where the river flows into the South China Sea. The mass-produced consumer products distributed all over the world and to a myriad of malls come primarily from one region in the south of China, the Pearl River Delta (PRD). In spite of decades of rapid growth in the south of China, this new global center of production is relatively invisible to the West. Without a doubt, southern China has become the “factory of the world” and the largest industrial region on Earth. Within 30 years, the city’s population had increased fiftyfold to an estimated 14 million. ![]() What used to be a fishing town with a population of 280,000 rapidly became a megacity when Shenzhen was appointed a Special Economic Zone in 1980. Despite government control, major cities like Shenzhen experienced a population spike. ![]() This system was codified in the 1950s to constrain the movement of villagers to urban areas by designating all Chinese citizens as either “rural” or “urban” residents and by requiring official permission for permanent migration. However, the official number of migrant workers is controlled through China’s household registration system, or hukou, with characteristics of an apartheid system (Chan 1998). They brought jobs into China, which attracted poor rural residents to migrate to cities like Shenzhen in the hope of a better life. When China began its economic reform in 1978, factory owners saw it as an opportunity to utilize the country’s growing labor supply, whose low cost and compliance had been maintained by deepening inequalities and limitations on migrant workers’ rights, including housing (Ngai 2004). It is an ironic and poignant fact that iPhone Girl will probably never be able to afford an iPhone. These laborers work long hours and make only a few dollars a day. However, it has opened a window to allow consumers to see past the fine print “Assembled in China.” Through modern technology and efficient means of transportation, many major international corporations are able to implement offshore manufacturing in countries where labor is cheap. The photo of iPhone Girl only shows a glimpse of what occurs within the walled compound. The compound itself is practically a self-contained city with its own fire brigade, hospital, bank, television broadcasting station and even Foxconn-stamped manhole covers. It is located in Shenzhen and is home to 420,000 factory workers. Like many “factory girls” and “factory boys,” she worked for a large manufacturing corporation, namely the Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn, the world’s largest manufacturer of electronic components.įoxconn City is a walled complex that measures around 3 square kilometers (1.2 square miles). She is one of the many rural migrants who have flocked to major cities in China in search of jobs. People all over the world started to speculate about the identity of “iPhone Girl,” her teenage face smiling, her white-gloved hands making victory signs. The photos were uploaded to an online forum and went viral. In 2008, when a British man discovered photos of what appeared to be a young factory woman in a pink-striped outfit posing at an assembly line on his brand new iPhone, the Shenzhen factory worker became an overnight Internet superstar. ![]()
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