“I worked here for six years, and others for more than 10. Who is going to compensate us?” asked Xu Miao, who by law is owed one month's salary for every year he was employed by the Weixu Shoe Factory in Dongguan, a big manufacturing centre in southern Guangdong province. Mr Xu's boss absconded on November 1, abandoning a 4,000-strong workforce that had not been paid for at least two months and suppliers claiming debts of Rmb100m ($14.7m, €11.3m, ￡9.3m).

“This is not a state-owned enterprise,” countered Gao Shengui, a taxi driver. “You shouldn't bother the government about it. It is a matter between you and a private company. ”

As they confront the impact of a slowing global economy on the factories that have flooded the world with cheap Chinese goods, local governments across the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong are increasingly coming round to Mr Xu's point of view.