What effect do you think the rising standard of living in China will have on our ability to compete with them?

Question

I went there two years ago, and even though I knew that they had become successful in trade, I was totally surprised by the shear number of people who appeared to be what we would call middle class.

The city I visited, Xiamen, was modern, and clean. The newer, wealthier part of the city was much larger than any of the areas that could be called slums. Out in the country side, where the factory I visited was, there was more apparent poverty. The city was different altogether. Xiamen is a MINOR city. It boggles my mind to imagine what Shanghai must be like.

Answer 1

For the short term, they are going to be very competitive. Long term (a generation or so), their middle class is going to be so large that it will open up business opportunities for companies all over the world.