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The influence of SA8000 standard on China.
Influence of SA8000 on China

1. Impact on foreign trade export Many scholars believe that the implementation of SA8000 in China will bear the brunt of China's foreign trade export. The comparative advantage of China products is mainly reflected in the low labor cost. If strict labor standards and corporate social responsibility standards are implemented, there is no doubt that labor costs will increase. For example, if enterprises implement the SA8000 standard or the standards formulated by some multinational companies, the average labor cost of some labor-intensive producers will increase by 50%- 100%, and the increase in production costs will be disastrous for enterprises in developing countries, which is equivalent to driving products from developing countries out of the international market (Cao, 2004). The fatal key of SA8000 is that it effectively weakens the biggest comparative advantage of developing countries in the competition-labor cost. Because the implementation of SA8000 certification and maintenance requires enterprises to invest huge manpower, material resources and financial resources to apply and update, which will undoubtedly greatly increase the cost and make enterprises overwhelmed (Liang Guiquan, Li Youhuan, 2004). He Zhou (2006) thinks that SA8000 will not only hinder the export of China's labor-intensive products, but also change the export market structure of China's labor-intensive products and affect the depth of international cooperation in labor-intensive industries. 80% of China's export markets are developed countries and newly industrialized countries and regions. Developed countries actively promote SA8000 certification, which objectively forms trade barriers for the export of labor-intensive products in China, forcing China-related enterprises to reopen new international markets. If the labor standard is raised to the level stipulated in SA8000 standard, the production cost of export products will increase, which will reduce the attraction to foreign investment. At the same time, multinational companies will be afraid that their subcontractors will not meet the standards and will not invest, which will have a negative impact on the cooperation between labor-intensive industries and foreign capital.

2. Impact on enterprise competitiveness The impact of SA8000 on enterprise competitiveness is mainly to increase the production cost of enterprises. The implementation of SA8000 standard will lead to three kinds of costs: first, the time cost needed to evaluate the current situation, formulate system principles and procedures, control and record; The second is the cost of taking remedial measures, that is, the cost of reducing working hours, raising wages and improving the working and living environment; The third is the cost of certification, review and continuous control and supervision review (Zhang Taihai, 2007). The implementation of SA8000 increased the cost of products and weakened the international competitiveness of products. Liu (2006) thinks that the implementation of SA8000 will reduce the international competitive advantage of China enterprises, especially labor-intensive small and medium-sized enterprises. For a long time, China's abundant and cheap labor force has become the key for many enterprises to gain international competitive advantage. Although China has done a lot of work in protecting workers' rights and interests, some enterprises still do not take social responsibility in this respect. SA8000 requires China enterprises to meet social responsibility standards as the premise of trade, and the cost of many enterprises will increase greatly, which will certainly reduce the export competitiveness of domestic enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, and affect their competitive advantage in the international market. Zhang Wenbing and Ge Yongbo (2003) believe that SA8000 will enhance the differentiated advantages of industries in developed countries, which will also weaken the competitive advantages of China products. With the implementation of SA8000, consumers in developed countries will form a gradually solidified impression that products that undertake corporate social responsibility and pass SA8000 certification have stricter moral standards in social responsibility. On the contrary, without SA8000 certification, many products in developing countries will be labeled as squeezing workers, exploiting child labor and inhumanity. This will affect consumers' purchase choices, and in this respect, it will form the differentiated advantages of products in developed countries. In the short term, SA8000 has a negative impact on the competitiveness of China enterprises; In the long run, this is an opportunity to enhance the competitiveness of China enterprises. SA8000 has become a new element of enterprise competition in the global economy, which directly affects the improvement of international competitiveness of enterprises from the aspects of winning consumers' attention and recognition, enhancing investors' confidence, improving enterprise human resource management, perfecting enterprise management system and promoting enterprises' participation in international division of labor (Qu Jianzhong and Liu Guohua, 2004). In terms of indirect influence, because SA8000 tends to pay attention to cultural values, ideology and labor system, it provides a model that enterprises should have as a social organization at a deeper level, which will greatly promote China enterprises to get rid of the shackles of some backward traditional cultural values and adapt to the rules of the international market, thus indirectly affecting the long-term development of enterprises and the promotion of international competitiveness (Wang Liping, Wu Jinhong, Jiang Lanling, 2005).

3. Impact on human resource management The accelerated implementation of SA8000 is both an opportunity and a challenge for human resource management in labor-intensive industries. The implementation of SA8000 will lead to the conflict between the improvement of employees' salary level and the increase of enterprise human resource cost, the decrease of negative externality of enterprise human resource use and the increase of enterprise burden, the enhancement of employees' rights and the increase of enterprise human resource management risk. The acceptance of SA8000 standard by enterprises is a constraint on human resource management of enterprises. If the SA8000 standard is enforced at this stage, many labor-intensive industries will inevitably fall into a disadvantageous position (Chen Shuni, Li Youhuan, 2006). On the other hand, the development of human resource management is also guaranteed by the system. Because the traditional human resource management is restricted by capital, it cannot be developed simply from the perspective of human resources. When the interests of enterprises conflict with the interests of employees, even though human resource management has the intention of safeguarding the interests of employees, it still succumbs to the power of capital in many cases. The implementation of SA8000 requires business owners to sacrifice some benefits to safeguard the rights and interests of employees. As far as human resource management is concerned, SA8000 can solve the biggest capital obstacle of human resource management (and Yang, 2005).

4. Other influences Li Youhuan (2004b) thinks that SA8000 invalidates the technical secrets of enterprises to some extent. Only when enterprises have technology monopoly can they have product and market monopoly and get high returns. If the secret technology is leaked or stolen, it will directly threaten the economic interests of enterprises and even affect their survival and development. SA8000 also poses a challenge to the country's economic security. The current international political, economic and military relations are based on high technology. The research and development of high technology and its application in various economic sectors, especially military sectors, have become the focus of competition and competition in various countries. The implementation of SA8000 will enable developed countries to steal high technology from other countries and create more convenient conditions. The influence of SA8000 on the development of national economy. China is a big country with relatively rich labor resources, and the competitive advantage of labor-intensive industries in China mainly lies in unskilled labor with low labor costs. If the enterprise fully meets the SA8000 standard, the labor advantage may disappear or even become a disadvantage. If more surplus labor cannot be placed, it will definitely have a negative impact on China's social stability and national economic development.