The Hollowing of China

Why China’s jobs will be flowing to India in a very big way.

A worker walks past a housing complex under construction by Chinese property developer Evergrande in Wuhan, in China's central Hubei Province, on Sept. 28, 2023. STR/AFP via Getty Images

Commentary

For four decades, China developed rapidly, if unevenly, by a seemingly unending stream of foreign investment and technological know-how from the West, unlimited cheap labor, and vast open markets hungry to buy whatever it produced.

The West Made China Wealthy

As a result, global manufacturing centers saw their manufacturing bases disappearing rapidly, especially in the United States, as companies relocated to China to stay competitive with China’s numerous cost advantages. Entire industries in the United States—from textiles to electronics, auto parts, computers, and even highly strategic military systems—vanished within a few years, if not overnight. It’s estimated that more than 2 million manufacturing jobs in the United States alone were lost to China between 2001 and 2018.