Manufacturing Wage Growth in China

Average urban manufacturing wages in China have risen to roughly 100,000 yuan per year, several times their mid-2000s level.

Overview

The wage escalation reshaped global sourcing: as Chinese factory pay multiplied, garment and electronics assembly spread to Vietnam, Bangladesh and India in search of cheaper floors, while China itself climbed into higher-value production and became the world's largest installer of industrial robots. The Lewis turning point, rural surplus labor drying up, explains much of the rise. Unit labor costs converged toward rich-country levels in some sectors. Figures are approximate national statistics and mask large regional spreads.