過(guò)去幾個(gè)月的事態(tài)已經(jīng)清楚地表明，中國(guó)的勞動(dòng)力成本正在上漲。亞洲其他制造業(yè)經(jīng)濟(jì)體現(xiàn)在也受到了連帶影響。

　　利豐有限公司（Li & Fung Ltd.）總裁樂(lè)裕民（Bruce Rockowitz）就是這么說(shuō)的。利豐是香港貿(mào)易與物流行業(yè)的鄰頭羊，沃爾瑪（Wal-Mart）和Target這類公司的主要玩具、服裝采購(gòu)商之一。

　　樂(lè)裕民周四在香港發(fā)布利豐半年度業(yè)績(jī)的時(shí)候說(shuō)，我們和我們客戶承受的價(jià)格都已經(jīng)上漲，我們通過(guò)從孟加拉、越南和印度尼西亞采購(gòu)減輕了這種壓力。

　　但這些國(guó)家的勞動(dòng)力和原材料成本也在上漲。

　　他說(shuō)，這些國(guó)家，不說(shuō)全部，至少大多數(shù)都從中國(guó)尋找定價(jià)的指引，當(dāng)中國(guó)的價(jià)格上漲時(shí)，多數(shù)其他國(guó)家也會(huì)跟進(jìn)；中國(guó)以外世界其他地方也存在勞動(dòng)力成本上漲的問(wèn)題。

　　利豐在中國(guó)、東南亞等地制造商與歐美零售商之間起著中介作用。該公司對(duì)全球消費(fèi)品的貿(mào)易與制造有著很好的了解。它經(jīng)手的貨物當(dāng)中，中國(guó)制造的略超一半，東南亞占21%，南亞占15%.按國(guó)別計(jì)算，上半年產(chǎn)量增長(zhǎng)最快的是印度，增幅為27%，越南、印度分別增長(zhǎng)19%和15%.中國(guó)增長(zhǎng)了10%.

　　樂(lè)裕民說(shuō)，我們正在經(jīng)歷制造業(yè)國(guó)家發(fā)生的一輪重大變化，這輪變化要經(jīng)過(guò)數(shù)年之后才會(huì)歸于平靜。

　　上升的不僅是勞動(dòng)力成本。

　　他說(shuō)，原材料價(jià)格也已經(jīng)上漲，大宗商品價(jià)格已經(jīng)上漲；從整體上來(lái)看，成本壓力肯定是存在的，雖然市場(chǎng)比較疲軟。

　　零售商將不得不自己消化這些增加的成本，而不能把它們傳遞給缺錢(qián)的消費(fèi)者。

　　樂(lè)裕民說(shuō)，多數(shù)零售商都在接受價(jià)格的上漲，他們別無(wú)選擇。不僅是中國(guó)的價(jià)格在漲，到處都在漲。至于把漲價(jià)部分傳遞給現(xiàn)在這個(gè)市場(chǎng)的消費(fèi)者，我認(rèn)為會(huì)更加困難。所以零售商真正指望的是怎樣提高效率，怎樣少搞降價(jià)促銷。

　　在有關(guān)經(jīng)濟(jì)的整體看法方面，樂(lè)裕民覺(jué)得消費(fèi)者情緒在過(guò)去幾周出現(xiàn)了一次波動(dòng)。

　　他說(shuō)，對(duì)于零售商來(lái)說(shuō)，雖然不管怎么說(shuō)業(yè)務(wù)都沒(méi)有大幅下滑，但已經(jīng)比不上當(dāng)年；現(xiàn)在的放緩肯定不是二次探底，消費(fèi)者還是在花錢(qián)；這是一種變化，而我們不知道它會(huì)持續(xù)多久。

　　利豐起源于1906年在中國(guó)內(nèi)地創(chuàng)辦的一家貿(mào)易公司?，F(xiàn)在它幫助零售商從亞洲的制造業(yè)中心采購(gòu)貨物，并把貨物運(yùn)送到美國(guó)和歐洲賣場(chǎng)的貨架上。該公司上半年利潤(rùn)已較去年同期全球貿(mào)易陷入停頓時(shí)反彈。收入為66.4億美元，增長(zhǎng)12%，股東應(yīng)得利潤(rùn)為2.78億美元，增長(zhǎng)55%.樂(lè)裕民說(shuō)，這是我們有史以來(lái)最好的半年。

China Labor Cost Increases Setting the Bar for Other Economies

　　 It's been clear over the past few months that labor costs are going up in China. That's now rippling to other manufacturing economies in Asia.

　　So says Bruce Rockowitz，president Li & Fung Ltd.，the bellwether Hong Kong based trading and logistics giant that is a major buyer of toys and clothes for the likes of Wal-Mart and Target.

　　'Prices have gone up for us and our customers，' Mr. Rockowitz said while presenting Li & Fung's semi-annual earnings results in Hong Kong Thursday. 'We've mitigated it by looking at Bangladesh， Vietnam， Indonesia，' he said.

　　But labor and material costs are rising in those places，too.

　　'Most of the countries，if not all，look to China for pricing direction. When China prices go up，most of the other countries follow suit… You are seeing issues on labor cost going up in other parts of the world other than China，' he said.

　　Li & Fung，serves as an intermediary between manufacturers in places like China and South East Asia，and retailers in U.S. and Europe. The company has a good pulse on global trade and manufacturing of consumer goods. A little more than half of the goods Li & Fung handles are made in China. Southeast Asia accounts for 21% and South Asia 15%. The strongest growth in production volume by country in the first half was in Indonesia，up 27%. Vietnam was up 19% and India up 15%. China was up 10%.

　　'We are going through a major change in the manufacturing countries that is going to take a few years to sort itself out，' he said.

　　It's not just labor costs that are rising.

　　'Material prices have gone up. Commodity prices have gone up，' he said. 'Overall there's definitely been cost pressures… despite the weakness in the market，' he said.

　　Retailers will have to eat those higher cost without passing them on to cash strapped consumers.

　　'Most of the retailers are accepting the higher prices，they have no choice. It's not just China going up. It's everywhere. And so as far as passing it on to the consumer in this market， I think that's more difficult. So what retailers are really looking at is how to be more efficient and how to have less markdowns.'

　　As for his general take on the economy，Mr. Rockowitz has felt a disturbance in consumer sentiment over the last few weeks.

　　'While business is not falling off the map by any stretch，it's not as robust as it was for retailers，' Mr. Rockowitz said. 'It's definitely not a double dip type of slowdown. The consumer is spending…That is a change and we don't know how long that will go，' he said.

　　Li & Fung，has its roots in a trading company founded in China in 1906. It now helps retailers procure and ship goods from manufacturing centers in Asia to store shelves in the U.S. and Europe. The company's earnings rebounded in the first half of the year compared to the year earlier，when global trade virtually ground to a halt. Earnings per share rose 55% to $278 million on $6.64 billion in revenue， which was up 12%. Mr. Rockowitz called it the 'best half year we've ever had.'