I would disagree with that. In China and Taiwan all they do is guess, and you are likely to be charged the same ballpark figure as you would even if you changed the design. Tooling is also not affected by QTY if you are paying for it. Detail cost is another story of course.
Some guessing for 2 cavities in China
Pencil cap - 20-25K RMB
Stapler housing - 40-60K RMB
Power tool housing 2K rubber grip - 60-100K RMB
150% of that in Taiwan. 3-400% in Germany.
It should be said that you get what you pay for. You can come by cheap and good tooling, but will likely spend month revising tooling layout and tweaking. If you just want a smooth and easy process and know nothing about tooling - scramble the cash and stay in EU.
\
Also may sound reasonable to offset the cost by saving on travel (skipping 2 trips from EU to Shanghai can save the company maybe €5-6000), but travel budgets and R&D investment budgets are 2 separate spreadsheets. 1 of which is affecting your department, and the other one the whole company. Of course, company politics may not be applicable if you are developing your own thing.