In 2010 China passed Japan as the world second largest economy based on GDP figure. It now only has the United States above it, but it can only be a matter of years (10 to 15) before it reaches the top spot. A combination of cheap labor and a can do attitude has transformed China from a mainly agricultural society to one that has become the world’s factory. Everything from cars to toys to highly delicate electronic goods such as your iPhone or Motorola Xoom tablet are made in China.
With its output of relatively cheap products China has enabled many in the world to better their standard of living. Whether it is someone in Brazil, Africa, Europe or America, they’ve all profited from China’s cheap goods. However, there is a downside to this, with consumers voting with their wallets and often buying the cheaper Made In China products, local producers have found it increasingly difficult to compete. The end result is less production locally, meaning less work, meaning more unemployment, meaning buying even more cheap goods from China. As a consumer we are happy with these luxury items which have all of a sudden become attainable, but as a worker we should be worried. China’s success could mean economies in Africa and South America need to find new ways to stay competitive. And not even Europe and the United States are safe. One dominating player is and has never been good for anyone.

02. A labourer works at a production line at a toy factory in Panyu, south China's Guangdong province, September 4, 2007. Chinese President Hu Jintao, domestically stronger than ever, will have to defend the made-in-China label and is likely to face questions about trade and investment policies at an Asia-Pacific summit this week. REUTERS/Aly Song

03. Labourers work at a production line at a toy factory in Panyu, south China's Guangdong province, September 4, 2007. Chinese President Hu Jintao, domestically stronger than ever, will have to defend the made-in-China label and is likely to face questions about trade and investment policies at an Asia-Pacific summit this week. REUTERS/Aly Song

04. He Chunlin works at a label manufacturing factory in Dongguan, southern China's Guangdong province January 25, 2008. China's gross domestic product growth will probably slow to 10.8 percent this year from 11.4 percent in 2007 as the government implements a relatively tight monetary policy, the leading government think-tank has forecast. REUTERS/Jason Lee

05. Labourers work at an under-construction chemical factory in Huai'an, Jiangsu province, March 2, 2008. REUTERS/Patty Chen

06. A job seeker looks for work at the near deserted Xintiandi employment centre, in Songgang town, Shenzhen January 22, 2010. Many factories in China's export hubs of the Pearl River Delta are scrambling to recruit and retain workers, sometimes illegally, as Western orders for Chinese goods gather pace again, while labour shortages loom. The annual Lunar New Year holidays in February are expected to bring a fresh wave of labour shortfalls which could curtail the potential and manufacturing capacity of China's vital export sector. Picture taken January 22, 2010. REUTERS/James Pomfret

07. Labourers filter out stones from cinder at a workshop of a coal mine's coal washery in Huaibei, Anhui province March 8, 2010. This year China is targeting national coal output of 3.15 billion tonnes, a 3.3 percent increase, the country's economic planning ministry, the National Development and Reform Commmission, said in its annual economic plan on March 5. REUTERS/Stringer

08. Workers are seen inside a Foxconn factory in the township of Longhua in the southern Guangdong province May 26, 2010. A spate of nine employee deaths at global contract electronics manufacturer Foxconn, Apple's main supplier of iPhones, has cast a spotlight on some of the harsher aspects of blue-collar life on the Chinese factory floor. REUTERS/Bobby Yip

09. Clothes hang from windows at a dormitory for workers of an electronic factory in Suzhou, Jiangsu province June 8, 2010. REUTERS/Aly Song

10. Employees' metal mugs are arranged in a cupboard at a resting area in Suzhou Etron Electronics Co. Ltd's factory in Suzhou, Jiangsu province June 8, 2010. The factory employs more than 200 workers and manufactures electronic products mainly for export to the U.S. and European markets. REUTERS/Aly Song

11. Workers rest inside their hostel after lunch inside a shoe factory in Ganzhou, Jiangxi province June 21, 2010. With the yuan now climbing again, factories in China's coastal export hubs are fretting that a stronger currency will compound a sharp rise in wage and production costs. But an abundant supply of cheaper workers means that plants sprinkled in the interior are somewhat insulated from the surging wage demands that have sparked a series of headline-grabbing strikes in the powerhouse province of Guangdong. Take Ganzhou, a newly emerging industrial region in Jiangxi province, just to the north of Guangdong. Picture taken June 21, 2010. REUTERS/Bobby Yip

12. A worker works while surrounded by unmanned sewing machines at the production line of a bag factory in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, February 15, 2011. China's booming coastal provinces are facing a labour shortage after the Lunar New Year holidays as the seemingly endless flow of migrant workers dries up. More and more workers in the traditional manufacturing belts in the Pearl River and Yangtze River deltas are staying back in their home villages in the countryside due to rapid urbanisation and economic development in China's interior. The machines are unmanned due to labour shortage, according the factory management. REUTERS/Aly Song