Dark Clouds Over The Delta

There are those who view the exodus as more of an opportunity than a loss. American Chamber of Commerce in South China president Harley Seyedin recently wrote that the migration of low-end companies farther into China's interior is "freeing land and resources for a new stratum of cleaner, more efficient and higher value-added industries."

Still, the province's share of China's total exports is declining precipitously in certain sectors. Guangdong's garment and textile exports plunged 11.3 percent during the first three months of 2008 from a year earlier. That doesn't make it another Kaohsiung—yet. But with the global economy continuing to weaken and China's export boom starting to wane, there's no guarantee that the transition underway on the Pearl River Delta will proceed as fast or as seamlessly as the planners in Beijing envisage.

With Ko Shu-Ling in Taipei

© 2008