HEFEI, China ¨C Xing Wei graduated from a vocational high school in northeastern China in 2003 and went to work as an electrician in an auto parts factory in the country¡¯s south. The only set of wheels he could afford was a black three-speed bicycle.
He earned $1,150 a year and shared a sweltering dormitory room with three other workers. ¡°There was air-conditioning, but because we had to pay the electricity ourselves, we basically didn¡¯t turn it on,¡± Xing said.
Two decades later, Xing, 42, makes close to $60,000 a year. He works as a senior electrician installing industrial robots at electric car factories for Nio, a Chinese automaker. Last winter, he bought a $52,000 Nio ES6 sport utility vehicle.
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