Recruiting in China

China may not be home to the low cost factory labor it once was, but corporations are not giving up on it despite rising costs.

As Americas, we always hear how our corporations love exploiting cheap labor. Not as much as the Europeans do, however.

More importantly, China is no longer about cheap labor. The smart money knows it. Rising prices are trumped by rising wealth every time.

Here’s some proof:

Foreign direct investment rose for the third month in a row in April with more money coming from European countries for the first time this year rather than the United States, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday. Foreign firms pumped $8.43 billion into China last month, up 0.4% from a year earlier, according to the ministry. While the pace slowed from the gain of 5.65% in March and 6.32% in February, it was much better than January’s fall of 7.3%.

What do investors like? They like wage growth and the rise of the Chinese middle class.

According to a report by consulting firm KPMG, China has become the top destination for sourcing among multinational companies outside their home country with these companies moving more of their research units close to production bases. This year, the U.S. China Business Council conducted a survey of multinationals who have a presence in China and each one said that China was their number one investment choice.

All told, European companies are the most enamored with China.

During the January-April period, investment from European Union companies rose 29.7% to $2.5 billion, while corporate investments from the United States rose 33.2% to $1.4 billion.

From January to March there were 4,822 foreign investment projects approved in China, down from 5,379 in the first quarter of 2012.