China Blue

“Made in China” is often written on the clothes we wear, but under which circumstances are those cheap jeans and T-shirts actually made?

Director Micha X. Peled pretends to the factory manager that he wants to make a film about China’s transition to capitalism. Secretly, however, Peled creates a portrait of Jasmine and the conditions under which she works. Jasmine is one of the 130 million Chinese who have left the countryside to find work elsewhere. Seven days a week she cuts loose threads in a jeans factory. Her wage is 6 cents an hour; overtime is not paid extra. Using clothespins, the workers keep their eyes open, fighting sleep.

Labor laws are a dead letter, and union action is prohibited by law. At the end of their first month, the female workers discover that their wages are being withheld as a deposit. The French garment manufacturer and British buyer who visit Jasmine’s factory make enormous profits. The success of the Chinese export industry, with its immense appeal to the Western business world, rests on practices that are reminiscent of slavery.