In the news: G20 adopts trade growth strategy, Walmart employees return to work and China's statistics bureau tweaks GDP formula

Walmart's cross-country strike settles, for now

Workers striking at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. outlets in China have returned to work after the company agreed to consider their misgivings about a new work scheduling system introduced on July 7. The protests began in early July in the southern city of Nanchang and spread through social media to Walmart hypermarkets in Chengdu and Harbin. A Walmart spokeswoman in the U.S. said the hour scheduling system, which is unique to China, gives employees the flexibility to work additional shifts if they want to and has been supported by the majority of workers. Labor unrest has surged in China in the past several years as a slowing economy and rising costs put pressure on companies. But this is the first instance of rapid cross-country coordination—organized through the unofficial yet 20,000-member Walmart Chinese Workers' Association WeChat group. Companies need to be aware that social media platforms enable employees to independently take action even without an official union. Especially so in a nation that has the largest number of internet users in the world.

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GDP calculation revised to include R&D

The National Bureau of Statistics has tweaked the way it calculates the country's GDP, a change that has bumped up last year's figures by about $130 billion. The bureau said that spending on research and development has been included to bring the method in line with UN recommended international standards and to better reflect the contribution of innovation to growth. The U.S. made a similar change in 2012 to include knowledge and artistic input, which drove up the expansion rate from to 2.5% from 2.2%. International market observers, who have long been skeptical of Chinese economic data, will be watching to see if there is an increase in transparency in calculation mechanisms. The nation is projected to report April-June growth of 6.6% this Friday, which would be the slowest quarterly expansion since 2009.

G20 focuses on trade costs, China's steel output

20 trade ministers from the world's leading economies have agreed to cut trade costs, enhance policy coordination and boost financing, PRC Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng said on Sunday. They approved a growth strategy aimed at reversing a slowdown in international trade, and backed guiding principles for global investment legislation such as preventing protectionism and increasing transparency. Excess industrial production capacity was a major concern, particularly in the steel sector. A key complaint by the U.S. and EU has been that China's steel output, which accounts for half of global production, is being dumped on world markets at below-cost prices and pushing overseas competitors out of business. PRC officials have retaliated by saying that China has been the victim of aggressive foreign anti-dumping actions that fail to take into account the country's low labor and production costs. In that respect, the G20 agreement may turn out to be little more than lip service until China succeeds in cutting overcapacity as it looks to make its economy more dependent on consumption rather than production.

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Walmart's cross-country strike settles, for now

Workers striking at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. outlets in China have returned to work after the company agreed to consider their misgivings about a new work scheduling system introduced on July 7. The protests began in early July in the southern city of Nanchang and spread through social media to Walmart hypermarkets in Chengdu and Harbin. A Walmart spokeswoman in the U.S. said the hour scheduling system, which is unique to China, gives employees the flexibility to work additional shifts if they want to and has been supported by the majority of workers. Labor unrest has surged in China in the past several years as a slowing economy and rising costs put pressure on companies. But this is the first instance of rapid cross-country coordination—organized through the unofficial yet 20,000-member Walmart Chinese Workers' Association WeChat group. Companies need to be aware that social media platforms enable employees to independently take action even without an official union. Especially so in a nation that has the largest number of internet users in the world.

More from CLP:

Corporate social insurance payments lowered
What the social insurance reductions mean for labor management
The best ways to handle large-scale layoffs
Why workers' insurance matters
How to deal with labor crises

GDP calculation revised to include R&D

The National Bureau of Statistics has tweaked the way it calculates the country's GDP, a change that has bumped up last year's figures by about $130 billion. The bureau said that spending on research and development has been included to bring the method in line with UN recommended international standards and to better reflect the contribution of innovation to growth. The U.S. made a similar change in 2012 to include knowledge and artistic input, which drove up the expansion rate from to 2.5% from 2.2%. International market observers, who have long been skeptical of Chinese economic data, will be watching to see if there is an increase in transparency in calculation mechanisms. The nation is projected to report April-June growth of 6.6% this Friday, which would be the slowest quarterly expansion since 2009.