I would say alrady there. Harry Pearson's review of the Antique Sound Labs Hurricanes was a clarion call I think. Since then, the number of manufacturer's from China has only increased. I see serious "gap price filling" in the tube integrated market especially. I think the original Hurricanes were something of a canary in the coalmine, to see weather their products could compete at the aural level, as well as cost savings.
Will China become the poor man’s dealer for high end audio?
With the insane prices now being asked for audio equipment from manufacturers around the globe is china going to fill in the gap between the haves and have-nots.? We are already seeing some signs of this with manufacturers like Jays Audio and Denafrips offering product-performance prices below global market value. The only thing I see holding them back is they will always be one leg behind the rest of the world since they copy most of the technology they use and world wide acceptance.