China’s companies win the race for producing employment giants, dwarfing American firms like GM, Apple or Exxon

When you don’t count Walmart, the largest employers in the world, are in China, not the United States.

And the biggest firms in China are industrial and manufacturing companies, not a low-wage retailer

China National Petroleum (1,636,532), China State Grid (913,546), Foxconn (803,126) and Sninopec (667,799) together employ 4,021,003 workers.

Foxconn is well known in the U.S. for producing Apple phones in Longhua Town, Shenzhen, in the south of China.

Hundreds of thousands of workers (counts vary between 230,000 and 450,000) are employed in the walled campus of Foxconn City, one of many factory locations.

Like America’s Gilded Age company towns, Foxconn Campus includes 15 factories, worker dormitories, four swimming pools, a fire brigade, its own television network, and a city center with company grocery store, bank, restaurants, bookstore, and hospital.

Compare firms like Foxconn to the closest American industrial company – General Electric (313,000) – which has its workforce here and in China, according to a GE document:

GE China houses over 20,000 employees, 30 manufacturing bases, and more than 30 joint ventures, with a presence across 40 cities in the country. It also houses R&D teams in 8 cities in China. In 2017, GE’s orders in China amounted to US $8.1 billion.

One unfair tax advantage to America is that a firm’s China operations can help to avoid paying anything in support of our public needs. Our largest industrial employer may be a good example. The NY Times reported that between 2008 and 2015:

General Electric, International Paper, Priceline.com and PG&E, incurred a total federal income tax bill of less than zero over the entire eight-year period — meaning they received rebates.

But China’s dominance is not just in manufacturing and industrial employment, it far outpaces us in finance.

China has the largest major bank employment in the world: Agricultural Bank of China (491,578), Industrial Bank of China (433,048), China Construction Bank (370,415), Bank of China (311,133), and China State Construction (270,467).

Our largest bank, JPMorgan Chase, has 252,539 workers, many overseas.

These statistics lead to the conclusion that a socialist economic system, like China, does create jobs, even while guaranteeing healthcare and other services – benefits usually only for purchase in America. While China concentrates on increasing factories and employment in its own country, U.S. firms often do the opposite.

Meanwhile, China’s average wage is $12,000 in American dollars, compared to $6,900 in 2011, and $31,000 here. The government also requires employers to provide ten paid holidays, five to 15 paid vacation days, as well as up to 98 days of paid maternity leave, plus paternity leave that varies between 7 and 20 days. Workers must receive 30 days notice of layoffs, and sign an employer/employee contract.

China’s elected and appointed officials have the major voice in determining economic policy on a company-by-company basis. For example, products of China are free of VAT and other taxes when exported to the rest of the world. Imports are always taxed with the VAT, as well as tariffs that can often even double prices.

In the United States, the opposite is true. In recent years both political parties have allowed corporate interests to dictate public policy to government officials. And since corporations own all major media outlets, this corporate capitalism is promoted at all turns.

Most European nations have compromised on near-absolute control of government by corporations (U.S.) and absolute control of corporations by government (China). In varying degrees these countries attempt to blend the best of two economic/political systems.

Americans often cannot afford to pay for nursing homes, drugs, or childcare.

Chinese workers currently have lower pay, stricter working conditions, and face a government that controls most aspects of their lives.

Compromise, anyone, for the public good?

Name	Industry	Revenue USD millions	Workers
Walmart	Retail	$500,343	2,300,000
China National Petroleum	Oil and gas	$326,008	1,636,532
State Grid	Electricity	$348,903	913,546
Foxconn	Electronics	$154,699	803,126
Tata Group	Conglomerate	$110,700	702,454
Sinopec	Oil and gas	$326,953	667,793
Volkswagen	Automotive	$260,028	642,292
Amazon	Retail	$177,866	566,000
Agricultural Bank of China	Financials	$122,366	491,578
Gazprom	Oil and gas	$111,983	469,600
Industrial Bank of China	Financials	$153,021	453,048
Kroger	Retail	$122,662	449,000
Berkshire Hathaway	Financials	$242,137	377,000
China Construction Bank	Financials	$138,594	370,415
Toyota	Automotive	$265,172	369,124
Ping An Insurance	Financials	$144,197	342,550
Samsung	Electronics	$211,940	320,671
General Electric	Conglomerate	$122,274	313,000
Bank of China	Financials	$115,423	311,133
Exor	Financials	$161,677	307,637
Walgreens Boots Alliance	Pharmaceuticals	$118,214	290,000
Daimler	Automotive	$185,235	289,321
China State Construction	Construction	$156,071	270,467
United Health	Healthcare	$201,159	260,000
AT&T	Telecom	$160,546	254,000
JPMorgan Chase	Financials	$113,899	252,539
Japan Post Holdings	Conglomerate	$116,616	245,863
Honda	Automotive	$138,646	215,638
CVS Health	Healthcare	$184,765	203,000
Ford	Automotive	$156,776	202,000
BNP Paribas	Financials	$117,375	189,509
Costco	Retail	$129,025	182,000
General Motors	Automotive	$157,311	180,000
China Life Insurance	Financials	$120,224	170,517
Verizon	Telecom.	$126,034	155,400
SAIC Motor	Automotive	$128,819	148,767
Allianz	Financials	$123,532	140,553
Apple	Electronics	$229,234	123,000
Total	Oil and gas	$149,099	98,277
AXA	Financials	$149,461	95,728
Royal Dutch Shell	Oil and gas	$311,870	84,000
Glencore	Mining	$205,476	82,681
BP	Oil and gas	$244,582	74,000
Exxon Mobil	Oil and gas	$244,363	71,200
McKesson	Healthcare	$208,357	68,000
Chevron	Oil and gas	$134,533	51,900
Cardinal Health	Pharmaceuticals	$129,976	40,400
AmerisourceBergen	Pharmaceuticals	$153,144	19,500
Fannie Mae	Financials	$112,394	7,200
Trafigura	Commodities	$136,421	3,935