Export is 40% of GDP. The problem is that the figure "export" here is a gross figure. Actual net GDP contribution is much less.
When the economists estimate the net GDP contribution, they hv already included below things:
- worker income
- company earnings
- tax to government
So the articles above hv already taken your reasoning into consideration.
The real issue here is that... China's mix of export has changed a lot over last few years. It no longer relies so much on "processing trade" which give little domestic value added (eg, textile, toys). >60% of the export is now electronics/machinery goods. So for factories like Foxconn/Flextornics (mfgrs for Nokia, Dell, etc), salary doesn't contribute a big % of their cost. What really makes up most of their cost is semiconductors/parts imported from Japan/US/Europe.
By buying more of these parts from domestic companies, they can cut the import amt significant. As a result, it is possible that the gross GDP drops but the domestic value added actually increases as import drops even more.
So it is all about the mix of the import/export trade.
In these EMS, salary just accounts for 10% of their cost, semiconductors acount for >50%.
However, it is also true to say that keeping the export strong is important.... not b'coz the economy will collapse without it but rather that China real unemployment rate is extremely high. China needs these a lot of these low-pay USD150/mth shit jobs to keep the ppl busy for something.
Personally I would rather say that the major risk with China is that it is too reliant on investment (60% of GDP). These are for infrastructure and real properties. But how much value do they really contribute. It can be, first, over-built, and second, overvalued. By keeping everyone busy at building roads, homes and factories, these may give artificial growth and look good on paper value but are actually a waste of economic resources, driving inflation rate up at the same time.