"Article 24. The state strengthens the building of socialist spiritual civilization through spreading education in high ideals and morality, general education and education in discipline and the legal system, and through promoting the formulation and observance of rules of conduct and common pledges by different sections of the people in urban and rural areas. The state advocates the civic virtues of love for the motherland, for the people, for labour, for science and for socialism; it educates the people in patriotism, collectivism, internationalism and communism and in dialectical and historical materialism; it combats the decadent ideas of capitalism and feudalism and other decadent ideas."

If one US company or a few move offshore, their profits improve and consumer prices are lower. However, when work in general moves offshore, American lose the incomes associated with the production of the goods they consume. Domestic production is turned into imports, with the result that America draws down its accumulated wealth in order to pay for the imports on which it is dependent.

"We can have a healthy discussion about whether that's in 2020 or 2040, but it will (become the world's largest economy) and China will become the IT center of the world," Chambers said, speaking at a press conference in Beijing last week.

Chambers tied his comments about China's growing economy to the announcement of Cisco's plans to invest US$32 million in a research and development (R&D) center that will open next year in Shanghai. The center will employ a staff of 100 and focus on the development of VOIP (voice over IP) products and technology.

Looking ahead, Cisco plans to expand the Shanghai R&D center over time to include work on other areas of technology related to networking, Chambers said, outlining a long-term vision of a network of Cisco R&D centers spread across China.

Explaining why Cisco chose Shanghai for the site of an R&D center, Chambers was quick to note China's excellent infrastructure, a good university system that provides a pool of talent from which to recruit researchers and business-friendly policies implemented by the country's government. But Cisco's decision is about more than developing future VOIP products, it's about positioning Cisco for future growth in China.

"What we're trying to do is outline an entire strategy of becoming a Chinese company," Chambers said.

The BLS reports that the number of employed US technical workers has fallen by 221,000 in six major computer and engineering job classifications during 2000-2004. The largest drops were suffered by computer programmers, followed by electrical and electronics engineers, computer scientists and systems analysts.