This white paper was developed after a 2013 conference confronting the question: “Is China losing its competitive edge?” Much of the material is still relevant today. This white paper is first in a series of three, it discusses and depicts the background (historical, cultural, geo-political etc.) of China as a...
Just a few weeks ago, the South China Morning Post published an article about how some of China’s factories are downsizing to the extreme, all in an effort to survive the dynamics of our present global economy. How will that affect everyone who’s importing and sourcing from China? And the...
Build your own factory or work with an existing factory? Now, this is a very pressing question. Simply put, if everything is done efficiently; the more of the supply chain you own/control, the cheaper the overall product should be to produce. Using this logic if you plan to have a...
To further understand the manufacturing process and its developments and gain insights into the market we visited the Industrial Automation. The International Automaton Beijing offers a platform for companies to enter the industrial market in Northern China, using automation technologies. The fair is organized by Hannover Milano Fairs Shanghai Ltd....
The world of sourcing can be a little confusing at times, here are some commonly used acronyms in the sourcing industry to help clear things up! VAR - A value added re-seller is commonplace in the electronics industry but not exclusive to it. We can use Apple as an example; Foxconn manufacture...
The Battle of the bonbons Ever since the People’s Republic of China opened up to the world in the 1980s countless foreign companies have taken their business east. Companies quickly acknowledged the opportunities to take benefit of the world’s largest potential supply market. Successes were achieved by many, who saw...
The new Chinese visa regulations rolled out on the 1st of July 2013 and are aimed at imposing stricter penalties on foreigners working illegally in China. Thankfully for the rest of us this means that additional visa types have been created which facilitate foreigners in more ways than before. It...
This time we discuss an article posted by South China Morning Post (2013-05-14) about China's competitive edge and opportunities for the coming years. Based on recent studies conducted by KPMG's research in November last year, the article states that despite the increasing labour costs and worker shortages, China still churns out...