  China's cheap labour is due to the low GDP per capita of the people, once the standard of living gets better and when people start to get more educated (within the next generation), then China will be more like Japan but 200 times bigger.   Economist magazine said that if 10% of the population in China were millionares, then that'll be more millionares than the USA and Europe combined.  Chinese certainly love big numbers, don't they. Beyond a certain number, a big population is more of a curse than a blessing.