Henry Ford raising wage may give tip on worker prosperity

"Little" Xie says he wants to own one of the automobiles he helps build at Ford Motor Co's assembly plant in the Yangtze River city of Chongqing. With his mortgage payment taking about 60 percent of his 2,000-yuan monthly pay, that won't happen soon.

"It is not even worth talking about company incentives to help buy a car, since I can't afford one in the first place," said Xie, 28, a six-year Ford employee. Xie, whose nickname comes from his youthful age, asked that his full name not be used.

Higher wages for people like Xie would help resolve China's biggest economic challenge: shifting away from growth fueled by exports and investment and moving toward an economy driven more by domestic consumers. The country's leaders might learn a lesson about how to create a more prosperous working class from American industrialist Henry Ford.