Hundreds of workers protested for a fifth straight day on Thursday at a Japanese plant in southern China, a company official said, in the latest labour unrest in the country's manufacturing hub.

Nearly 1,000 workers have downed tools since Sunday at disk drive maker Hailiang Storage Products Co, blocking the entrance and accusing bosses of "bullying" Chinese workers, state media and a rights group said.

The factory in the southern city of Shenzhen is operated by Japan's Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, which is in the process of being taken over by US firm Western Digital.

Workers, who fear the acquisition will result in lower wages, hoisted banners saying "We also know our rights" and "Japanese companies shamelessly bully Chinese workers", said US-based China Labor Watch.

The company official, who declined to be named, told AFP that talks to resolve the strike were continuing.

Since November, thousands of workers in factories in southern China and elsewhere have gone on strike, protesting over low salaries, wage cuts and poor conditions as companies cut back amid the global economic slowdown.

Labour activists say authorities in China appear to be more sympathetic to grievances against factories funded by foreign companies or overseas Chinese investors from Hong Kong and Taiwan than domestically-owned plants.

Another two-week strike in November by nearly 1,000 workers over rest breaks and salaries paralysed a Shenzhen factory in which Japanese watchmaker Citizen has a stake.

The strike ended after factory bosses agreed to give workers 70 percent of their normal hourly rate for rest breaks.

At a Shenzhen factory owned by Hong Kong women's underwear maker Top Form International, hundreds of workers refused to return to their sewing machines for several days last month over overtime pay.

Production resumed after the factory paid every worker 1,000 yuan ($157).

China expected to grow 8.9% in 2012: report
Beijing (AFP) Dec 8, 2011 - China will further relax credit restrictions next year as the world's second largest economy slows and exports decline due to woes in Europe and the United States, a state-run think tank said Thursday.

Gross domestic product is expected to expand 8.9 percent next year, according to forecasts by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) published in the China Daily newspaper.

That compares with an expected growth rate of 9.2 percent this year and follows the blistering 10.3 percent recorded in 2010, CASS said.

CASS deputy head Li Yang said he expected Beijing to announce more credit relaxation next year to counter the domestic slowdown and crises in key export markets.

"Monetary policy may be slightly loosened in the first half of next year, and the reserve requirement ratio for commercial banks will be further reduced," Li was quoted saying.

China last week cut the amount of money banks must keep in reserve for the first time in three years as it seeks to boost lending and spur activity to counter alarming signs of a domestic slowdown and the US and eurozone troubles.

Leading Chinese officials have painted a gloomy picture for the country's exports, warning that the eurozone debt crisis and sluggish recovery in the United States threatened the Asian economy.

CASS said China's exports would likely grow 17.3 percent next year compared with a forecast increase of 20.4 percent in 2011 as European and American consumers cut back on spending.

The country's consumer price index, a key gauge of inflation, is expected to slow to 4.6 percent next year from a forecast 5.5 percent this year, after punching above six percent this year due to soaring food and housing costs.

Growth in fixed-asset investment -- a key measure of government spending on infrastructure -- is expected to slow to 22.8 percent in 2012 from 24.5 percent this year, CASS added.