Trade-war-hit Chinese manufacturers cut hiring and pay

Half-empty job fair adds to signs of trouble for consumer spending

Workers assemble scale models of the moon rover for China's Chang'e 4 lunar probe in Dongguan. Job cuts are starting to set in at the country's smaller manufacturers as the economy slows. © Reuters

YUSHO CHO, Nikkei staff writer

February 28, 2019 04:18 JST

SHANGHAI -- Smaller Chinese companies are starting to curb hiring in 2019, threatening to put further pressure on weak consumer sentiment as the economy slows.

A Nikkei survey of 30 companies present at job fairs in the neighboring cities of Shanghai, Kunshan and Suzhou last week found that 10 of them plan to cut back or freeze hiring in 2019 from a year earlier.