Wait so you're telling me you can continue to be a manufacturing superpower even when you pay your workers well and give them a good standard of living? But neoliberalism told me that was impossible!
I think the right side chart being of manufacuring value added rather than raw volume is the reason why this has been possible. Expanding the volume of low value added goods has limited results and also leads to the market quickly saturating. Chinese government has adopted a conscious strategy of moving up the value chain. For example, businesses which have strategies for this get easier access to credit.
I am just surprised that western bourgeoisie agreed to the technology transfer agreements that helped in this. I guess the race to the bottom that the competition among them fosters is maybe why.
China used its large market to play the capitalists against themselves. First to new market wins, so Western capitalists were begging to get in no matter what.
I do think that as China moves up the value chain, they should still improve and automate their low-value manufacturing. That way, they can never get cut off from needed goods. I don't know whether this is exactly what they are planning. If someone more knowledgeable could chime in, that would be great!
OP has posted in the past about how China uses robots for automation more than any country in the world (even the so called developed ones). I think the rate of adopting automation will keep on increasing.
China also makes it legally hard to move capital out of the country even if capitalists want to chase lower wages elsewhere. Good strategy. Money can still flow somewhat, but that factory isn't going anywhere.
real wage growth among all G20 countries between 2008 and 2022 was highest in China, where real monthly wages in 2022 were equivalent to about 2.6 times their real value in 2008. In four countries – Italy, Japan, Mexico and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland – it appears that real wages were lower in 2022 than in 2008.
They literally has to create a with China and without China datasets because China alters results so much. Without China the growth of real wages would be absolutely dismal.