Well, China also provided policy support. For instance, China set out to educate a wild surplus of engineers, and did so. This was done because of recognizing that engineering ability was the foundation of the real economy's wealth. Steve Jobs referenced that when he said, "Those jobs aren't coming back," meaning Apple manufacturing. The reason was simple. In China it was easy to find 30,000 engineers required to output a new product line. In the USA it was impossible. It wasn't just a matter of salaries. Those salaries, when amortized over huge production runs are not a big cost. The problem was he couldn't find them, and that meant products didn't happen, or they happened years later, which would make Apple a middle of the pack company.