ABSTRACT
Take an item from the shelves of Wal-Mart or K-Mart and, more likely than not, it will have a “Made in China” label. This is no surprise the China makes 70 percent of the world’s toys, 60 percent of its bicycles, 50 percent of its shoes, and 33 percent of its luggage. China also builds half of the world’s microwave ovens, one-third of its TV sets and air conditioners, a quarter of its washers, and one-fifth of its refrigerators. China’s share in world textiles has risen dramatically since the first day of 2005, when quota and tariff barriers were removed. It is expected that China will take over 60 percent of the global textile market in the coming years, without protectionism in the US and the EU. Therefore many people (for example, Zakaria of Newsweek (May 2005) and Shenkar (2005)) view China as the world factory. The evidence cited most frequently is China’s export expansion in the past decade. The reality is, however, more complex. A close examination of China’s global competitiveness in exports (from the detailed discussion in the preceding 12 chapters of this book) reveals the following points:
• More than half of China’s exports are not generated by domestic firms but by foreign-invested enterprise. “Made in China” does not mean “made by China.”
