> The reason they are ahead in the first place is labor cost & the QOL workers will tolerate

That hasn't been accurate in a decade. Chinese labor costs have been higher than Mexico since before Covid. They have more efficient firms, business processes and so much more. The parenthesized "(and intentional government investment)" is related to how they developed nimbler systems, but ignores the totality of industrial policy.

In this case specifically they also have a huge amount of automation and process learnings from being around for 20+ years.