A Dirty Word In The U.S., 'Automation' Is A Buzzword In China

Gerry Wong graduated from MIT with his bachelor's degree, his master's degree and his Ph.D, but in 2000 he left the United States and went home to China start a telecom equipment company.

Labor was readily available and relatively cheap.

But he says the environment has changed. These days wages are rising quickly. He currently pays his factory workers about a $1,000 USD a month.

"It’s getting difficult competing with lower-cost factories in like Southeast Asia," Wong said, referring to countries like Vietnam. "This is a big pressure on all the factories in Shanghai ... they're going to have to automate."

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