A key factor to understand this new environment is the rise of China, offering the same conditions that made possible, 40 years ago, the Taiwan Miracle (a quiet political and social environment, cheap and educated workers, absence of independent trade unions). To keep growing, the Taiwanese economy must abandon its workforce intensive industries, which cannot compete with China, Vietnam or other sub-developed countries, and keep innovating and investing in information technology. Since the 1990s, Taiwanese companies have been permitted to invest in China, and a growing number of Taiwanese businessmen are demanding easier communications between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.