In an April 29 open letter, the U.S. Business and Industry Council President Kevin L. Kearns rightly pointed out the lack of attention the domestic manufacturing crisis has received in President Obama's first 100 days in office. This trade group takes a very conservative - often protectionist - stance on trade issues, but the letter raised some good points. Here are some excerpts:

Yes, there is a crisis in the financial sector that requires attention, but there is a larger, cascading, and potentially more devastating crisis in the manufacturing sector, which unlike banking actually creates wealth.

To date, your economic team's approach seems to be trillions for banks, but hardly a dime for manufacturing. You save wrong-doing financial houses from failure, but send good-faith, if sometimes poorly run, manufacturing companies into bankruptcy - a formula for disaster.

The current economic crisis is ultimately rooted in America's longstanding failure to produce as much as it consumes. Without doing so, we cannot create the wealth needed to pay our way in the world and ensure a high standard of living for our citizens at home. Debt-financed "prosperity" was an illusion.

The only way forward is for America to make and consume more domestic products, and cut imports and the foreign borrowing necessary to buy them. ...
The solution to our economic problems is not to print enough money to return to the previous unsustainable global trade regime. Rather, we must rebuild those parts of the U.S. economy that actually create wealth within our borders, and therefore restore a prosperity financed by earned income rather than by reckless borrowing.

The same letter condemned foreign countries' "predatory trade practices, including currency manipulation, VAT export rebates, government subsidies, IP theft, industry-government collusion, foreign cartels, dumping, closed markets, etc."

It went on and called for the President to "administer some 'tough love' to our trading partners and a world economy still dangerously addicted to exporting to overextended U.S. consumers." If I'm reading it correctly, it's alluding to the administration's decision to not cite China as a currency manipulator, which is one of those things without quick answers or solutions.

When a nation is faced with both internal and external problems, how should those issues be prioritized for maximized results with limited resources? In the manufacturing case, some real change from the domestic side will be a good start and actually increase the nation's bargaining power in global trade negotiations.

A newly-released blockbuster movie is shaking China. The black-and-white "City of life and death" has a powerful Chinese title "Nanking! Nanking!" and gives the audience and the public an extremely emotional ride.

Nanking - usually spelled Nanjing these days - is a city with rich history. It served as China's capital during six dynasties. The word Nanjing literally means "south capital". When thousands of years of feudalism finally ended in 1911, Nanjing rose again to be the capital of the Republic of China.

Growing up, I paid many visits to Nanjing, about an hour from my hometown. At least a dozen times, I went on school-organized tours to pay tribute to historic sites, including the Memorial Hall of the Nanjing Massacre, which is the main theme of "City of life and death".

The truth is: you can't understand the Chinese people without understanding their history. So much has happened in 5,000 years, including glorious moments and dark times as well. After years of living in the U.S., I've realized that many Americans (and other Westerners) have a hard time sympathizing with Chinese people's feelings toward history. They have legitimate reasons.

From the 1840s to the 1940s, China and its people were invaded, colonized, enslaved and slaughtered. One of the world's earliest and best places of civilization was in the dark for a century. Not long after the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, the Great Leap movement led to severe famine, followed by the Cultural Revolution that damaged not only economic growth but also cultural heritage and people's values and faith.

All that, associated with shame, anger and distrust, is still vivid in Chinese people's minds. In my eyes, much of China's economic miracle has been created with the will and motivation to make the country strong, independent and respected again.

I know, 1.3 billion people, they are all different. Some people show more patriotism than others. But it will serve you well to keep in mind how Chinese people feel about the past two centuries. If Nike had done so, it wouldn't have come up with the ad featuring LeBron James slaying a Chinese dragon and a kung fu master, which was deemed an insult to China's national dignity. The ad was consequently banned.

Chinese people's emotional sensitivity also stems from the culture. They don't have the sense of American humor. From a Western perspective, they take everything way too seriously. They don't give themselves a break. But that's who they are. That's what history has made them into. Perhaps you can't make sense of it, but please, at least accept it.

We've heard about the rising wages in China's industrial regions and its negative impact on the nation's competitive advantage as a manufacturing base. The labor contract law introduced last year also is believed to be elevating labor cost by mandating worker benefits, for one. So how much really does it cost now to hire an injection press operator?

Certainly the location matters. In Zhejiang province - one of the richest regions on the east coast -- some injection workers are paid a mere 4.3 yuan ($0.63) per hour, according to an investigative report from the Zhejiang Workers' Daily. The employer, Ping Xing Electronic Co. Ltd. in Leqing city, also pays an extra 30 yuan ($4.38) monthly allowance if the worker goes to work for no less than 28 days in that month.

Moreover, the president of the local workers' union admitted that most factories in Hongqiao Township have longer than legal working hours. Many don't provide benefits or written contracts. "Only a few large companies have relatively proper practices."

If the sample is still too small, let's go to the popular job hunting sites. When I searched for injection press operator positions on www.zhaopin.com, a Chinese equivalent of www.monster.com, these results popped up (city, company, monthly wage):

• Suzhou, China Shuheng Pipe Clamp Manufacturing Co. Ltd., 1,000-2,000 yuan (US$146-293)
• Chengdu, Push Medical Plastics Packaging Co. Ltd., 1,000-2,000 yuan (US$146-293)
• Changchun, Joyson Automotive Components Co. Ltd., 1,000-2,000 yuan (US$146-293)

As a matter of the fact, the smaller molding shops that don't recruit through online ads pay even less.

I don't agree with notion that the decline of foreign investment means China is losing its competitiveness against other low-cost manufacturing locations. China's slowdown is a natural response to the global adjustment of over-consumption and overproduction. The abundance of labor supply during a downturn keeps wages even lower.

I do feel bad for the workers. The labor contract law gave them a good opportunity to secure better pay, working terms and benefits, but the global recession disrupted the government's plans to upgrade the economy. Now, where is China going?

Cangzhou Mingzhu Plastic Co. Ltd. announced last week plans to acquire Dezhou Dongli Plastic Co., whose main assets include two biaxially oriented nylon film extrusion lines with combined annual capacity of 9,000 metric tons. Mingzhu has one existing BOPA line and one under construction, each with 4,500 metric tons of annual capacity.

The deal is priced at 112 million yuan, which industry insiders say is a good bargain. "Mingzhu tried to rake up 108 million earlier this year for the 4,500-metric-ton new line," securities analysts said. Publicly-traded Mingzhu said Dongli's two lines are not running due to managerial and technical problems, which will be resolved with Mingzhu's expertise.

Mingzhou is a joint venture between Hebei Cangzhou Dongsu Group Co. Ltd. and Hong Kong Juhong Co. Ltd. It makes polyethylene pipeline systems as well as films. It claims annual processing capacity of 180,000 metric tons. Its second BOPA line is expected to be completed by summer 2010.