China
A lot of developments are taking place lately, and among those the resurgence of China as a world power; the NYT has a very descriptive article about the oncoming Chinese effect:
Generalizing about Chinese business always raises exceptions. The country's crazy quilt of state-owned, village-owned, private and hybrid businesses was stitched together over 25 years of rocky reforms. Peasant entrepreneurs, opportunistic officials, government planners, new urban sophisticates and foreign investors all created operations that best fit the moment they stepped into the evolving market economy. And yet, looking at the marketplace from the broadest perspective, one overwhelming fact stands out. Ninety percent of everything made in China is in oversupply; in other words, nearly every manufacturing industry has surplus capacity.
We tend to thing that only the connected world is the one that matters, or that only highly automated factories and expensive tv shows indicate progress. China will be an important and defining player in various fields: textiles, electronics, and, by the looks of it, biotechnology.
You know, starting Jan 1 2005, there will be no more quotas for textiles and apparel coming from China.