economy - Non-performing wages

Why is China able to produce its goods so cheap? By allowing companies not to pay back loans to the state-owned banks used to be one method, but the 360 billion renminbi or 43 billion US dollar in overdue wages also have helped a bit. A part of the labor in China was not only cheap, but simply not paid.
The sudden shortage on the labor market might reverse that trend, at least for the time being. Vice-premier Zeng Peiyan, who has done the accounting to get this figure, pointed at governments and real estate developers as the major culprits.
"Some have remained unpaid for up to 10 years," said Zeng, who insisted that all arrears should be paid by the end of 2006, while pointing out the government campaign to clear up back payments had been initially successful, write the China Daily.