China's advantages counteract rising pay: analysts

Rapid wage increases are threatening China's competitiveness, but improved productivity and other advantages mean it will continue to attract investors, analysts say.
Labour costs in China would match those of the United States within four years, catching up with eurozone countries in five years and with Japan in seven, the French bank Natixis forecast in a study last month.
China "will soon no longer be a competitive place for production given the strong rise in the cost of production", the bank said.
It is a view backed by the respected Boston Consulting Group (BCG), which said in a study last August that by around 2015 manufacturing in some parts of the United States would be "just as economical as manufacturing in China".
Examples of major manufacturers leaving China abound -- BCG said US technology giant NCR has moved its manufacture of ATMs to a factory in Columbus, Georgia, that will employ 870 workers as of 2014.
Adidas announced recently that it would close its only directly owned factory in China, becoming the latest major brand to shift its manufacturing to cheaper countries, though it maintains a network of 300 Chinese contractors.
Chinese workers making athletic shoes are paid at least 2,000 yuan (258 euros; 313 dollars) a month, while their Adidas colleagues in Cambodia only earn the equivalent of 107 euros, the German company said.