- - - - Junge chinesische Arbeiter arbeiten Desktop Computer im Büro eines elektronischen Produkte Werk in Dongguan City, South China Guangdong provinc
--FILE--Young Chinese workers operate desktop computers in the office of an electronic products plant in Dongguan city, south Chinas Guangdong province, 26 November 2009. Dongguan on south Chinas Pearl River Delta was once a manufacturing boomtown, a place that made so many different things from toys to shoes to furniture, that it became known as the worlds factory. More than 5 million migrant workers came from all over the country to work, often taking jobs that used to be in the U.S. But these days, it is Dongguan that is losing jobs and eyeing the United States with some envy. Americans are more accustomed to hearing about Rust Belt manufacturing towns in decline because the jobs left for China. But in China there are places where factories are shuttering and the future is uncertain. Chinas reliance on cheap labor has powered its economy to unprecedented heights and fueled its ambition to build the biggest of everything. But its manufacturing sector is running into problems these days, crimping such ambitions. China is being squeezed on one end by places with even lower labor costs, such as Laos and Vietnam, and is struggling to make more-advanced products because of competition from developed nations such as Germany and the U.S. Before 2009, Dongguan was one of the fastest growing in China. Then the U.S. recession hit, which sent demand for Chinese goods plummeting. Before the city could recover, Europes debt crisis delivered another punch. During the first three quarters of 2012, Dongguan grew 3.5 percent, which is anemic by Chinese standards and much lower than the average rate of 7.9 percent in the rest of Guangdong province. China has relied too much on exports and construction for the past several years. Dongguans troubles illustrate how hard it can be to reinvent overnight an economy built on cheap labor, especially as Chinas overall growth has slowed to its lowest rate in years.
