It feels like the end of an era. The spate of strikes and suicides that have rocked China’s southern manufacturing belt over the last fortnight could well go down as the moment that China stopped being a place of endless cheap labour. And for the economy, it could be a thoroughly good thing.
The manufacturing hub in Guangdong province has been buzzing with two different but related stories – the spate of suicides at Foxconn, the company that makes the iPad and other hi-tech gadgets, and a high-profile strike at a Honda components plant.
