Wow, what we have all been saying for years about the growth and development in China is coming true – so quickly. But what is happening is INFLATION. Prices for food, rent, and other basic things are going up so quickly. The Chinese government is still controlling their currency from rising too high to try to keep the export market safe….but still…..wages are going up, and factory workers are striking….

Just read this article:

Toyota is latest car maker hit by strike in China

Toyota says assessing impact of strikes that have hit 2 China-based parts suppliers

Elaine Kurtenbach, AP Business Writer, On Friday June 18, 2010,
SHANGHAI (AP) — Toyota Motor was assessing the impact Friday from strikes that hit two of its China-based parts suppliers, the latest unrest among migrant workers who are the backbone of the country’s industrial sector.

Workers at a plastic parts factory of Toyota Motor Corp. affiliate Toyoda Gosei Co. in the northeastern city of Tianjin went on strike Thursday, forcing the plant’s production line to shut down in the afternoon, said Toyoda Gosei spokesman Tomotaka Ito, at the company’s headquarters in Aichi, Japan.

That walkout followed a one-day strike by workers at another Toyoda Gosei unit and Toyota supplier, Tianjin Star Light Rubber and Plastic Co., which ended Wednesday after the company agreed to review the pay for its 800 workers.

“We are aware of the strike at Tianjin Toyoda Gosei. We are checking its impact on production … and will continue to closely monitor the situation,” said Toyota spokesman Hideaki Homma.

Ito said Toyoda Gosei was still negotiating with workers over their demand for higher wages.

Workers are demanding higher wages. Foxconn has just doubled salary in Shenzhen due to suicides, other factories have been raising salary as well. It is the big factories and companies first….then it will trickle down to smaller companies and factories too.

But people say then, the DOMESTIC market will hold it up. The Chinese consumer will buy more goods and then no longer need to be dependent on the EXPORT market…..but if factories leave to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, etc …..where is the salary and income going to come from? Sure, there is a developing middle class….but, how sustainable and developed is it?

It is sad, but it is life…..China has been growing so rapidly, amazing…..but lately its grown too much, too fast. Costs are rising…..people need more money to live – therefore pushing up salary. But then, foreign companies have to make a choice, what to do…..