China’s firms are taking flight, worrying its rulers

FOR DECADES China has put foreign capital to work. Officials encouraged Western firms to trade technology for access to its vast market, helping to build up Chinese competitors that were often better and always cheaper. They began shipping goods westwards. The resulting “China shock” is often blamed for causing economic dislocation and despair in America’s industrial heartlands. Now, however, it is China’s turn to worry about offshoring. Its manufacturers are taking flight.