Foreign manufacturers have piled into the country in the hope of tapping its potentially huge consumer market, as well as its mix of cheap skilled and unskilled labour.

BBC: A worker loading containers at Yantian Port, Shenzhen

And the computer revolution means that it can use its abundant natural advantages notably its spectacular scenery and cheap but educated labour force to attract companies from all around the country.

ECONOMIST: Lexington

But the firm wants to hire a quarter of its 80-strong workforce in Gubin, which has a tradition of shoemaking and plenty of cheap, skilled labour.

ECONOMIST: The German-Polish border

And, perversely, its great successes of recent years have been in industries that rely not on vast supplies of cheap labour but on smaller numbers of highly educated engineers such as its computer-services businesses and capital-intensive manufacturing.

ECONOMIST: China and India