Because china, unlike most of the other countries in the world, has a massive population and resources to get atleast partially self sustaining. Also, the fact

Because china, unlike most of the other countries in the world, has a massive population and resources to get atleast partially self sustaining. Also, the fact that exporting manufacturing to the east let to a lot of short-term profits for western companies. The question is at what costs, looking at climate change, the current shortage of nearly anything manufactured right now and the destablisation of society thanks to the dropping of quality of life of many people in the west.