Do Rising Labour Costs Spell the End of China as the ‘World’s Factory’?Günter Schucher und and Mark Kruger

ASIEN – Nr. 114/115 (2010) pp. 122–36

Labour shortages and worker unrest have afflicted foreign factories on China’s coast in recent months, drawing international attention to the conditions of Chinese workers. Foxconn, an assembler of Apple products, and Japanese car makers Honda and Toyota recently increased their workers’ wages by as much as 24% to 65% (Jin 2010). In Foxconn’s case, this may have been in response to a spate of suicides, while Honda and Toyota were hit by strikes. Implications of these developments could be far-reaching…