JD Vance blames U.S. wage losses on China's efforts to build its middle class

cnbc.com:

BEIJING — U.S. presidential hopeful Donald Trump's new running mate JD Vance stuck to a hard line on China in his first speech since being selected earlier in the week.

«Together we will protect the wages of American workers and stop the Chinese Communist Party from building their middle class on the backs of American citizens,» Vance said on the third night of the Republican National Convention.

He also called for more factories in the U.S. and restrictions on foreign workers, but did not name specific actions.

Vance, a former critic of Trump, rose to fame for his book «Hillbilly Elegy» — a first-hand account that seeks to describe the impact on the U.S. economy as manufacturing shifted out of the country. As the current Ohio Senator, Vance proposed in September a legislation for promoting gas and hybrid-powered cars made in the U.S. and canceling electric car subsidies.

The ruling Communist Party of China has been increasingly focused on developing advanced manufacturing and said one of its goals for the year 2035 is to «substantially grow the middle-income group as a share of the total population.»

China has 1.4 billion people, more than four times the U.S. population of 336.7 million. McKinsey predicts the number of China's upper-middle and high-income households could reach 200 million next year.

However, China remains far poorer than the U.S. on a per capita basis.

China's middle-income group had a per capita disposable income of 32,195 yuan ($4,436) last year, slightly lower than the nationwide level of 39,218 yuan, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The bureau defined each income category by dividing all surveyed households into five equal parts, including upper-middle-income, middle-income and