過去幾個月的事態已經清楚地表明，中國的勞動力成本正在上漲。亞洲其他制造業經濟體現在也受到了連帶影響。

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

　　樂裕民周四在香港發布利豐半年度業績的時候說，我們和我們客戶承受的價格都已經上漲，我們通過從孟加拉、越南和印度尼西亞采購減輕了這種壓力。

　　但這些國家的勞動力和原材料成本也在上漲。

　　他說，這些國家，不說全部，至少大多數都從中國尋找定價的指引，當中國的價格上漲時，多數其他國家也會跟進；中國以外世界其他地方也存在勞動力成本上漲的問題。

　　利豐在中國、東南亞等地制造商與歐美零售商之間起著中介作用。該公司對全球消費品的貿易與制造有著很好的了解。它經手的貨物當中，中國制造的略超一半，東南亞占21%，南亞占15%.按國別計算，上半年產量增長最快的是印度，增幅為27%，越南、印度分別增長19%和15%.中國增長了10%.

　　樂裕民說，我們正在經歷制造業國家發生的一輪重大變化，這輪變化要經過數年之后才會歸于平靜。

　　上升的不僅是勞動力成本。

　　他說，原材料價格也已經上漲，大宗商品價格已經上漲；從整體上來看，成本壓力肯定是存在的，雖然市場比較疲軟。

　　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的消費者。

　　樂裕民說，多數零售商都在接受價格的上漲，他們別無選擇。不僅是中國的價格在漲，到處都在漲。至于把漲價部分傳遞給現在這個市場的消費者，我認為會更加困難。所以零售商真正指望的是怎樣提高效率，怎樣少搞降價促銷。

　　在有關經濟的整體看法方面，樂裕民覺得消費者情緒在過去幾周出現了一次波動。

　　他說，對于零售商來說，雖然不管怎么說業務都沒有大幅下滑，但已經比不上當年；現在的放緩肯定不是二次探底，消費者還是在花錢；這是一種變化，而我們不知道它會持續多久。

　　利豐起源于1906年在中國內地創辦的一家貿易公司?，F在它幫助零售商從亞洲的制造業中心采購貨物，并把貨物運送到美國和歐洲賣場的貨架上。該公司上半年利潤已較去年同期全球貿易陷入停頓時反彈。收入為66.4億美元，增長12%，股東應得利潤為2.78億美元，增長55%.樂裕民說，這是我們有史以來最好的半年。

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.'