I used to feel a bit sour when I bought things overseas that had been made in China, not because I was not proud of what Chinese workers had contributed to the world economy, but because I knew that bad working conditions and meager pay for Chinese migrant workers underlined the pride we felt in the label made in China.

In other words, mixed with the pride was a sense of humiliation that our manufacturers could only make, rather than design or create. The question that lingered on my mind was why we should always be at the lowest end of global manufacturing chain, which has rendered us nothing but a tool with which transnational firms make big bucks.

But my feelings became more complicated when I was in the United States in April. At an outlet in Chicago, I noticed that many of the T-shirts and other clothes, as well as shoes and even bags, were made in India, Vietnam, Peru and some other developing countries. I was suddenly gripped with the notion that China was losing its status as the world's largest manufacturer and this notion made me shudder.