''it has to allow the production of craps to let their low end population have something to do''
no - that's not correct.
If you look to early western companies who started using Chinese firms for work -
take American luxury boat builders --------- who used to get their boats done in Taiwan
they shifted to China
what you hear from some of them is that the Chinese are 'pragmatic' ------- they will give you a top product - for a price
but, if you cannot or do not want to pay that price - they can just as easily and happily give you a lesser quality product - for a price
they just don't mind which way it goes - they just want to do business
they have pragmatism as a national characteristic.
You can see pragmatism in Vietnam and Thailand too - many Asian nations have it deeply imbedded in their character ------------ it's got zip to do with needing jobs for population - zip