For Liang Zhu, who runs an aluminum factory about 100 kilometers north of Hong Kong, there is only one way out of China’s vicious spiral of excessive competition: shift away from inexpensive metal for window frames and door handles, and toward the specialized alternatives needed for iPads and airplanes. Guangdong province has long been a powerhouse of light manufacturing. Today, though, many companies like Liang’s are battling to survive in the era of “involution”, a term commonly used to describe the country’s intense, self-harming industrial race. China’s property boom is over, and has left behind small to ... (full story)