I don't think you understand the pervasiveness of the corruption here in the U.S. either.
Actually, as an American, I do understand that corruption isn't pervasive in the US, and not from the business press either - I know businesspeople on both sides of the Pacific. A key advantage China has is that a businessperson doesn't have to obey any (labor, environmental, et al) laws as long as he pays* the relevant government departments off. (This advantage is in addition to lower land and labor costs, of course). The importance of an unregulated business environment (resulting from payoffs) is going to increase as Chinese factor costs go up.
* Since he has to pay them off to stay in business anyway, he might as well flout the regulations for which the government bureaucrats are responsible.