Originally Posted by
LapSap
Actually the wages in China are starting to get ‘beyond our means’ already. So now the search is on for the next bunch of slaves who can work for us- Cambodia? Laos? Even Vietnam is reasonably developed now and stuff made there is rising in price.
Well said. Even China is looking outside China to set up manufacturing because they have created a consumption-hungry middle class that expects more for toiling in the factories. They want the fancy stuff and bling that they make for the rest of the world. Hence we see China building infrastructure in Africa that will support soon-to-be-built factories. Why plunder the African continents' raw materials then drag them half-way across the world to pollute your backyard when you can do that in-situ with a cheap labour force? Africa, of course, is rotten with corruption, but China is no stranger to it either and can undoubtedly work it out to their advantage.