The Chinese regime’s lack of support for the poorest has aggravated their situation. Wealthy bosses, on the other hand, were entitled to tax cuts and employment incentive subsidies and chose to fire more people, describes a report in the Financial Times
Amanda Wang’s family business in Beijing, a call center and two restaurants, went into free fall with the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent quarantine. In July, Amanda imposed a 30% wage cut on her workers, even after she received tax cuts and employment incentives from the Chinese government.
The case is reported in the British newspaper Financial Times as one of many that illustrates the income gap that has widened in the Asian giant with the pandemic.
Despite the benefits she obtained in order to continue to have companies running, Amanda Wang complained to the British newspaper. “My biggest challenge is to fight against the lack of a public policy to encourage business. So I have to make savings where I can, ”said Wang, to justify the wage cuts. However, this Chinese mistress had no problem renewing her membership card at a luxury Beijing beauty salon.
“I will not cut on my basic needs,” said the 41-year-old businesswoman, who in July sold one of her six apartments in the Chinese capital for a millionaire profit. “There are ways to turn around the loss of income”, he comments.
On the other hand, one of Amanda Wang’s employees, Li Erping, an employee at one of the restaurants, had no option but to cut things that were not superfluous to him, such as the gym. After the wage cut imposed from July onwards, Li’s life became much worse. “This is the most difficult period of my life. I am saving all the cents I can to support my family ”, he says, he who makes his guts heart to support a son.
As the Financial Times tells, these two examples illustrate the extremes of social classes in post-pandemic China. While the richest are managing to emerge from the crisis without major financial damage, the poorest are struggling for survival.
