Indigenous industry key to change

China still has some of the world's lowest hourly wages. Yet, people in China also work longer than most people in the world.

But why are the lives of Chinese people so hard?

The development of the Chinese economy is still being held back by the US and Europe. Take China's manufacturing sector for example. Many large foreign companies chose to build factories in China because of its cheap labor force - and then controlled the cost of raw materials going into these factories as well as the prices of the products they turn out.

Making matters worse is the Chinese government's lack of focus on industrial policies. China has invested massively to build roads, which has led to rapid GDP growth, but this has not translated into much improvement in most people's quality of life.

After years of emphasizing infrastructure, the government now needs to be strengthening its homegrown enterprises if it wants to provide its citizens with better livelihoods.

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