China moves up-market

If an article in today’s Wall Street Journal is to be believed the Chinese are finding it easier than expected to shift to more sophisticated production. To quote the start of a piece by Andrew Batson in Beijing:

“China is demonstrating a surprising ability to parlay its dominance in low-end manufacturing into a new strength in producing sophisticated high-tech goods.

“Already the place where many of the world’s computers and mobile phones are put together, it is expected to become home to a multibillion-dollar integrated-circuit plant run by Intel Corp, the world’s biggest maker of computer chips.

“The speed at which China is moving into more-complex manufacturing is a sign that its transition from a low-wage economy making cheap goods to a high-wage economy producing valuable ones may not be as difficult as once thought.”