Cool article in Asia Times a few days ago on the changes to foreign-invested manufacturing operations over here. The article focuses on Korean factories in Qingdao, but that’s just an example.

The numbers have changed, and a lot of those low-cost, export-oriented foreign manufacturers are being driven out of business as costs rise, particularly labor and tax costs.

This was rather odd, though:

All these changes are parts of the policy of transforming the Chinese economy, but they have adversely affected many export-oriented enterprises.

This part of the article almost sounds like it is talking about the U.S. mid-west or something, bemoaning the fact that these guys are out of business and the laborers are out of work.

Look, the economy is changing, and if low-end firms are going out of business in favor of higher-end manufacturing and service enterprises, all for the better, right?

This is good news, not bad.