"**If low labor costs were the sole reason for locating new factories abroad—as many people seem to erroneously believe—then sub-Saharan [[Africa]] would be the most obvious choice, and [[India]] would almost always be preferable to [[China]]**. But during the second decade of the 21st century, [[China]] averaged about $230 billion of foreign direct investment a year, compared to less than $50 billion for [[India]] and just around $40 billion for all of sub-Saharan [[Africa]] (excluding [[South Africa]]). "**[[China]] provided a combination of other attractors—above all, centralized one-party government that could guarantee political stability and acceptable investment conditions; a large, highly homogeneous and literate population; and an enormous domestic market**—that made it the preferred choice over [[Nigeria]], [[Bangladesh]], and even [[India]], resulting in a remarkable collusion between the world’s largest communist state and a nearly complete lineup of the world’s leading capitalist enterprises." ([Location 2102](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08SGC3TD3&location=2102)) --- **Tags** -- [[quotes]], [[globalisation]], [[comparative-advantage]], [[economics]], [[foreign-investment]], **Source** -- [[202412030828 - B - How the World Really Works]]