Rising wages, inflation to curb competitive edge for exports

WASHINGTON - China's rising wages and inflation will soon make its exports too expensive to compete with low-cost manufacturers, according to a group representing US companies with operations in the world's second-largest economy.

"China's competitiveness in terms of wage rates will evaporate," Christian Murck, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing, said on Monday.

Factories are "being squeezed very, very severely by rising wages", he said.