China's Industrial Revolution started in the 20th century, over two centuries behind Europe. Now this new global economic powerhouse is preparing to properly step onto the world stage; with this step, China will soon no longer be "the world's workshop".
China's government is now shifting economic gears from being export- and investment- based economy to one that will be supported by its own domestic population, and at 1.3 billion, it is the largest in the world.
This shift is highlighted by the recent pay increases gained by Chinese workers through labor actions, strikes and protests; in the background, the government has also increased the monthly minimum wage by roughly $30. Many economic forecasters also predict that the Chinese government will allow the yuan to rise against the US dollar. How will this affect the labor market? The increased pay may drive inflation in the already lowing Chinese economy, and a stronger yuan would be problematic for exporters. However, in the long run, the increased wages and stronger currency will benefit both the people and the economy; through increased productivity levels and domestic consumer spending. This will decrease dependence on foreign importers and cause China to become more self reliant as high export rates are delicious for boosting the economy, but only when there are nations that are willing to import. China has benefited from globalization; now that they have a strong economy, they will probably wish to stabilize it. Of course, hopefully China has learned a lesson from American history and they will not allow such a gross imbalance of financial flow.
This situation may also prove beneficial for America. After Reagan's 1980's dismantling of social democracy and the rise of Neoliberalism, globalization became one of the most popular (and controversial) topic for economic policy makers in the last two decades. This has lead the United States to become the world's largest importer; an economy that has lost production output and employment due to a failure to be competitive internationally. Now is the perfect opportunity for the balancing of American global trade and to transfer employment back into the US.
The main principle is, once again, that a balance must be maintained between financial flows going out and coming in; there are costs and risks, but also benefits, to globalization.