U.S. Embassy Events

Remarks by Elaine L. Chao
U.S. Secretary of Labor
Beijing Jiaotong University
Beijing, China
August 26, 2008

(As prepared for delivery)

“America and China in the 21st Century”

Thank you.

It is a special delight to be here at Beijing Jiao Da University during China’s historic hosting of the 29th Summer Olympic Games.  I have just come from the closing ceremonies of the games, and China is to be noted for the magnificent preparations it has made to ensure that the Olympic Games are truly memorable.  On July 29, 2008, I attended the inaugural ceremony opening the new Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C.  And upon my arrival here in China last Friday, I toured the new American Embassy in Beijing that was just dedicated by both former and present President Bush.  These events are emblematic of China’s growing presence in the world.

Today, the U.S. and China are more engaged than ever—both culturally and economically.  China is already the United States’ second-largest trading partner in terms of total trade, with $191 billion in goods crossing our borders in the first five months of 2008 alone.  So far this year, U.S. exports to China have totaled nearly $37 billion, while imports from China have totaled over $154 billion.    

A vibrant relationship exists between our two countries.  But there is so much more we can share and learn from one another.  So this afternoon, I hope I may share some thoughts on the state of the American economy, America’s workforce, the role of the U.S. Department of Labor in strengthening our nation’s economy and then some observations about American and Chinese cultures.   

As everyone is aware, the U.S. economy is currently experiencing some short-term challenges due to the decline in the housing sector and subsequent credit crunch. But, the long-term foundations of America's economy remain sound.  Unemployment is 5.7 percent, which is the same as the average 5.7 percent of the decade of the 1990s.  Productivity has grown at a strong 2.6 percent annual rate since the first quarter of 2001.   Second quarter real GDP increased nearly 2 percent.  That’s significant because several months ago some experts were predicting that the economy would shrink this quarter, not grow.  The second quarter GDP growth was supported by a 9.2 percent increase in exports.  And strong growth in exports created more than 100,000 new jobs over the past 12 months.  

All this reflects the fact that America is a very large (over $14.3 trillion), diverse and resilient economy. 

Now, let me share some information about the American workforce. 

Compared to China’s workforce of over 803 million, the workforce in the United States is much smaller—about 154 million people.  America’s workforce has three unique attributes—high productivity, flexibility, and mobility. 

Last September 2007, the International Labor Organization, a part of the United Nations, rated the American workforce as the most productive in the world.  High productivity is key for workers in America, because higher productivity means higher wages.  In America, the average worker in his or her mid-forties has held more than 10 jobs—usually in pursuit of better opportunities.  So change is the norm in America, and it is how people advance within the economy. 

The flexibility and mobility of America’s workforce also encourages entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurship continues to generate a significant portion of our country’s economic growth.  In fact, during the past decade and a half, about two-thirds of the net new jobs created in the U.S. have been created by small- and medium-sized businesses.  Small- and medium-size businesses represent over 99 percent of employers in the United States, and provide about 83 percent of all private payroll jobs.  

The United States, like China, is a country of diverse regions where people have many different experiences. But there is general agreement that the private sector—not government—is the primary engine of job creation and growth.  And, the role of government is to create the environment and the conditions through which economic growth and job creation can occur.  

And the Labor Department plays a key role in that mission.  That’s because the Labor Department issues and enforces regulations that impact nearly every worker in America.  These regulations address such issues as maintaining a healthy and safe work environment, enforcing the law requiring employers to pay workers a full day’s wage for a full day’s work, ensuring that workers have long term retirement security.

The budget of the Labor Department is about $50 billion annually and employs about 17,000 people.  Even in a country like ours, there are never enough resources to place a government inspector in every workplace.  That’s why it is important to build a culture of safety and make safety a number one priority in the workplace.

As a result of these efforts, the Department has achieved record results in worker protection without imposing significant new costs that hamper job growth.  For example, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) has helped bring injury and illness rates down to record low levels—down 17 percent since 2001.  And newly released data show that the rate of workplace fatalities fell in 2007 to the lowest level in recorded OSHA history.  In another example, the Department’s Wage and Hour division has recovered record back wages for workers—more than $1.2 billion for nearly two million workers since the start of this Administration.  The Employee Benefits Security Administration (known as EBSA) has achieved record monetary results in protecting workers’ pensions and health plans.  Its investigations have achieved monetary results of $10 billion since 2001. 

The U.S. Department of Labor also collects statistics on labor and employment in the United States through the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Accurate measurements are key to tracking the state of the workforce and to creating successful strategies that help America’s workforce.  Please feel welcomed to visit the website of the Bureau of Labor Statistics which provides many, many data on America’s workforce: it’s www.bls.gov.   You can also go on the Department of Labor’s website, www.dol.gov and click on Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In 2006, because of the importance of our bilateral relations, President George W. Bush and President Hu Jintao created a framework to help manage this economic relationship in a more comprehensive regular way, called the U.S. China Strategic Economic Dialogue, or SED.

The SED was created to enable our two governments to speak to each other at the highest levels across the cabinet departments, rather than each department only talking to their counterparts.  They alternate in location:  December 2006 in Beijing; May 2007 in Washington, D. C.; December 2007 in Beijing; June 2007 in Annapolis, MD, outside of Washington, D. C.   The next one will be this December in Beijing again.  With the ending of this Administration and the election of a new one, regardless of who is going to be President, we hope that this important framework for discussion will be continued.

In addition to participating in the SED’s, the U.S. Department of Labor has other going interaction with China concerning how to improve worker protections.  When I visited China for the first time as the Secretary of Labor in June 2004, the Department of Labor signed four Letters of Understanding and during the 2006 SED, we signed two more.  In 2007, these Letters were renewed through 2011 and are meant to strengthen cooperation between the U.S. and China in six key areas of workers protection and data gathering: 

• occupational health and safety,
• mine safety and health,
• private pension administration,  
• wage and hour law enforcement,
• unemployment insurance, and
• labor market statistics 

As a follow up to these agreements, cooperation with China on mediating labor disputes has also been established.  The Department also provided expertise to help draft the new Labor Contract Law, which went into effect this year.  So there is an ongoing discussion and dialogue between the U.S. Department of Labor and its Chinese counterparts to exchange information and expertise on key issues.

The United States, like China, also faces income disparities between regions, including rural and urban regions.  The Labor Department and the rest of the government at local, state, federal levels have many programs to address these disparities. 

As you have heard, my family and I came to America as a young girl of eight speaking no English.  Three years earlier, when I was five years old, my father scored number one in the national examinations.  There came an opportunity for my father to go to America to pursue his studies.   My mother was then seven month pregnant with their third child, my little sister, at the time.  Yet, she didn’t hesitate.  She encouraged my father to go to America.  She did so, not knowing how long this separation would be for our family. 

In fact, it took my father three long years before he was able to bring my mother, my two sisters and me to America.   He did not even see his third daughter, my sister, May (赵小美), until she was almost three years old.

I don’t need to say that our initial years in America were very challenging.  My parents left everything that was familiar to them:  their family and friends, their culture, language, traditions, even the food they were accustomed to eating, to live in a foreign country. There were no family members or friends to offer support.

Our little family of five lived in a small, one-bedroom apartment in Queens, New York.  My father held three jobs to support the family. Despite all the difficulties, our mother was able to prepare healthy, delicious Chinese meals for our family every night.   She managed our household budget so skillfully that we never felt we were needy.  She and my father created a loving, secure home for the children.  They never lost their forward looking optimism, determination, hope and belief in the basic goodness and decency of the American people.   We took comfort in the fact that our family was finally reunited and we were confident that a bright future awaited us. 

And my mother and father made sure we celebrated all the Chinese holidays. 

I entered the third grade, not understanding a word of English.  Every day, I would sit in the classroom and copy whatever was on the blackboard into my notebook.  Every night, my father after a hard day’s work, would sit down with me and he would go over my notebook with me, translating the day’s lessons and teaching me English.   Because I did not understand English, I would inadvertently switch the “b”s and “d”s and the “p”s and the “q”s.  My father had a difficult time trying to decipher my childish scrawls.  Those late nights of study made me appreciate so much the sacrifices of my parents and strengthened my resolve to be worthy of their love and efforts. 

On the weekends, we children were expected to help with household chores.  Being a diligent, energetic person, my father enjoyed fixing things around the house.  While he was doing this, he would always have one daughter with him helping to hold the flashlight and carry his tool box.  While he worked, he told us stories about my mother and his childhood and their parents and imbued us with Chinese philosophical thinking all the while teaching us to fix things around the house as well. 

Indeed, my parents are incredibly inspiring people.  While we were growing up, they provided a wonderful example to us through their lives and service to others.  They taught their children of our obligation to work hard, be willing to make sacrifices, be disciplined.  They taught us to always work for something bigger than ourselves, to contribute to our country and to bring honor to our family and community.  They also taught us Chinese values that strengthened us and helped us to persevere and excel.  My father and my mother deserve much of the praise and credit for who my sisters and I are today. 

When we first came to America, our family was often the only Asian American family in the entire town.  Today, America is much more diverse.  This rich diversity is one of America’s greatest strengths.  So when people ask me what America looks like, I say America is like a mirror to the rest of the world. 

Some of you have asked about the comparisons between American and Chinese culture.  First, let me say that there are many similarities.  Both cultures treasure the family, believe strongly in the importance of education and acknowledge hard work as a path to success.  But there are many cultural differences, as well.

In Asian society, doing what is best for the group is stressed.  In western society, individual achievement is prized, promoted and emphasized.

Asian culture emphasizes self-effacement and sacrifice.  In western society, one needs to be one’s own best advocate.

Asian culture teaches the values of harmony and stability.  In western society, finding new and better ways of doing things is highly valued and change is the norm.

It is possible to observe these trends in action with little children.  In the West, youngsters are encouraged to speak up, to make decisions (such as deciding which clothing to wear; what food they prefer), and to make their own choices.  Individualism is celebrated.  In Asia, children are taught to wait their turn to speak and to defer to elders.   

Neither way of looking at the world is necessarily better than the other.  Each has its own unique advantages in a worldwide economy.  But, when two cultures communicate in such different ways, there are likely to be misunderstandings and miscommunications.  That’s why it’s important to have more interaction and communication between these two cultures.

Our world is increasingly interlinked.  China is the world’s largest developing country and America is the world’s largest developed country.  The relationship between our two countries will only grow.  Invariably, there will be ups and downs.  And that’s why we need to communicate, learn to understand one another, and share our mutual experiences, so that the people in both of our countries can thrive and prosper.     

So thank you very much for the opportunity to share some thoughts with you today.

Now, I would be happy to take some questions.

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