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Viola Zhou

For American viewers, the Netflix documentary American Factory reveals the life of US workers on Chinese-owned production lines.
But for Chinese viewers, the film serves as a reminder of the human costs behind China’s rise as a manufacturing superpower – and it has generated strong interest in the country as the US-China trade war intensifies.
The film, backed by Barack and Michelle Obama’s new production company, documents how Chinese auto-glass company Fuyao built a factory near Dayton, Ohio, where thousands of workers were laid off when General Motors closed its plant in the rust belt a decade ago.
Fuyao brought not only new jobs to Ohio, but also the high expectations and harsh management style that are customary in factories across China. It most notably spent more than US$1 million to put down a unionising campaign.
For Chinese firms in US, navigating culture gap can mean success or failure
Although Netflix is not available in mainland China, pirated and Chinese-subtitled copies of the film have been circulated online, and it has been widely discussed on social media.
On popular social network WeChat, a post offering a summary of the documentary along with discussion of whether Fuyao could be considered representative of a Chinese-run factory has been viewed more than 100,000 times.
Meanwhile, an entry under the hashtag #AmericanFactory on Weibo was read more than 10 million times, with many commenters saying they had mixed feelings about the documentary.

Fuyao’s investment in Ohio was welcomed at first, but the cultural gap soon emerged.
The American workers complained about long hours and insufficient safety measures. The Chinese management staff on the production lines were unhappy about the pace of the American workers and the quality of the products they were making.
Fuyao’s billionaire chairman, Cao Dewang – a household name, dubbed “the king of glass” in China – visited the factory, replacing the top American manager with a Chinese who had years of experience in the US.
Some Chinese viewers noted that it was especially interesting to watch against the backdrop of the escalating dispute between Beijing and Washington.
“It’s a good documentary and it stirred mixed feelings as we watched it at this time, during the US-China trade war,” one person wrote on Weibo.
Another commenter said he had a better understanding of why US President Donald Trump was so eager to start the trade war after seeing the plight of the rust-belt city in the documentary.

Other viewers expressed their fascination with the sharp contrast between Fuyao’s factories in America and China.
The Ohio employees worked eight hours a day, five days a week. Some made enough to rent their own apartments. They complained about the low wages and safety hazards despite the difficulty of finding other factory jobs.
In the southeastern Chinese city of Fuqing, however, migrant workers lived in dormitories, worked 12-hour shifts and went home once or twice a year. They chanted slogans every morning pledging to work hard. They picked up shattered glass with minimal protection.
The contrast has led to a wave of reflections on the life of blue-collar workers in China as well as a heated debate over whether the country’s economic success has justified their ordeal or not.
Some regard the film as a poignant criticism of China’s labour abuse, which includes harsh working conditions, a workplace culture that encourages self-sacrifice, and state crackdowns on independent unions.
“Who doesn’t know China’s efficiency comes from stripping low-class workers of their health, safety and dignity?” read the top-voted comment on review site Douban.
“Chinese people have given Americans a lesson on what capitalism is like,” a Weibo comment said.
In a sleepy Louisiana town, two Chinese chemicals firms are being hit on multiple fronts by the trade war
But others said the film demonstrated the superiority of China’s culture and political system – without the harsh factory work, the country would not have achieved rapid development as a whole. They also defended entrepreneurs like Cao for creating jobs and lifting people out of poverty.
American Factory is the first release of the Obamas’ production company, Higher Ground, which partnered with Netflix. In an interview with The Los Angeles Times, directors Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert said they wanted to spark a conversation about how the working class, both in China and America, were being affected by the forces of globalisation and automation.
The film was also made at a time when the governments in both countries are trying to revamp their manufacturing industries. While Beijing wants to reduce China’s reliance on cheap labour by developing hi-tech sectors, the Trump administration has vowed to create more factory jobs in America. But as shown in Fuyao’s story, the jobs that companies are now willing to offer may not be what the workers wanted.


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American cinema

‘American Factory’ stirs mixed feelings in China over working conditions and culture

American Fuyao management team members and others tour a Fuyao plant in Fuqing, Fujian province in “American Factory”. Photo: Netflix via AP

This image released by Netflix shows Wong He, left, working with Kenny Taylor, center, and Jarred Gibson, right, in the furnace tempering area of the Fuyao Glass America Factory in Dayton, Ohio, in the documentary film, "American Factory." The film debuted Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019 on Netflix as the streaming service's first project backed by Michelle and Barack Obama's new production company. (Aubrey Keith/Netflix via AP)

Screen capture - Netflix "American Factory"

First Netflix film from Barack and Michelle Obama looks at life in a US factory under new Chinese bosses

Former US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle entered into an agreement with streaming giant Netflix last year. Photo: Reuters

(190731) -- DAYTON, July 31, 2019 (Xinhua) -- A worker checks the appearance of glass at the factory of glass manufacturer Fuyao in Dayton, Ohio, the United States, July 27, 2019. When Chinese leading automobile glass manufacturer Fuyao took over the site of former General Motors facility five years ago in Dayton, Ohio, local community cheered at the possible boost it could add to the rust belt city's revitalization efforts. In 2014, Fuyao acquired a former facility of General Motors in Moraine, a city in Ohio state, and turned the venue which was shut down amid the 2008 financial crisis into a 2-million-square-feet glass manufacturing plant with a total investment of over 600 million U.S. dollars. The investment has brought a great many job opportunities to Dayton and areas nearby. The plant now employs more than 2,300 people, the vast majority of whom are locally hired, including those who were laid off when General Motors closed its facility. Aside from job opportunities it brought,

Fuyao Glass Industry Group Chairman Cho Tak-wong delivers speech at SCMP China Conference at Kowloon Shangri-la hotel. 02NOV15

(190731) -- DAYTON, July 31, 2019 (Xinhua) -- Photo taken on July 27, 2019 shows the production line of glass manufacturer Fuyao in Dayton, Ohio, the United States. When Chinese leading automobile glass manufacturer Fuyao took over the site of former General Motors facility five years ago in Dayton, Ohio, local community cheered at the possible boost it could add to the rust belt city's revitalization efforts. In 2014, Fuyao acquired a former facility of General Motors in Moraine, a city in Ohio state, and turned the venue which was shut down amid the 2008 financial crisis into a 2-million-square-feet glass manufacturing plant with a total investment of over 600 million U.S. dollars. The investment has brought a great many job opportunities to Dayton and areas nearby. The plant now employs more than 2,300 people, the vast majority of whom are locally hired, including those who were laid off when General Motors closed its facility. Aside from job opportunities it brought, Fuyao has been

FILE - In this June 1, 2016, file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump wears his "Make America Great Again" hat at a rally in Sacramento, Calif. Donald Trump enters the White House on Jan. 20 just as he entered the race for president: defiant, unfiltered, unbound by tradition and utterly confident in his chosen course. In the 10 weeks since his surprise election as the nation's 45th president, Trump has violated decades of established diplomatic protocol, sent shockwaves through business boardrooms, tested long-standing ethics rules and continued his combative style of replying to any slight with a personal attack _ on Twitter and in person. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

For Chinese firms in US, ability to navigate the cultural gap can determine success or failure

Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

CGCC-USA chart showing companies reinvesting their profit back to the US market.

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Documentary revealing the life of US workers at Fuyao’s auto-glass plant in Ohio generates strong interest on social media
Some say it is especially interesting to watch against backdrop of trade war



Documentary revealing the life of US workers at Fuyao’s auto-glass plant in Ohio generates strong interest on social media.
