Many businesses in the United States chose to have goods manufactured in China because doing so has been a low cost alternative to manufacturing at home.

But economists and business leaders have increasingly begun to question whether China is the best place for manufacturing goods, especially with competitive alternatives available in other Southeast Asian nations.

Recently, Antoine van Agtmael, the founder of an investment firm focused on emerging market equities, penned an article highlighting five pending “game changers” that could bode ill for China. They are:

1. The shale gas explosion

2. The erosion of low-cost advantage

3. The burden of aging populations