Podcast: China Gives Us A Pep Talk

NPR | By Caitlin Kenney

Published November 18, 2009 at 5:20 PM EST

A furniture factory worker in the southern Chinese city of Dalingshan watches a World War II movie on a Jumbotron in the town square. He says more than half the workers at his factory lost their jobs because of the plunge in U.S. consumer spending.

Podcast: China Gives Us A Pep Talk

On today's Planet Money:

NPR business correspondent Frank Langfitt headed to China a few weeks ago expecting to find a triumphant people. The Chinese economy has recovered much more quickly than many parts of the world and Langfitt says he thought people would be gloating. But that just wasn't the case -- instead Langfitt found himself being comforted by the Chinese about the strength of the United States.

Many people he spoke to said their country still has a long way to go before overtaking the U.S. economy. Part of the reason, factory workers in the southern part of the country have seen layoffs that Langfitt says, just can't be compared to Detroit. Returning to factories he had visited years ago, Langfitt found doors locked and furniture strewn about outside. The reason -- Americans have stopped buying.

After the jump, more of Frank Langfitt's stories from China.

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Hear more from Frank's trip to China:

Taiwan Sees Risks, Rewards In China's Embrace

While U.S. Economy Struggles, China's Rises

China's Economic Leverage Over U.S. Growing