China becoming an important force in global manufacturing industry

"Economist Conferences" held recently in Shanghai the first "Asia Pacific Manufacturing Roundtable", which gathered representatives from many global top 500 enterprises, according to a Ta Kung Pao report from Shanghai, March 18.

Thanks to increasing application of information and security technologies, China is becoming an important force in global manufacturing industry, business leaders attending the meeting said.

The manufacturing industry enjoys a bright future, said Dr. Jay Lee, Wisconsin Distinguished Professor and Director of NSF Intelligence Maintenance System Center, adding that China, or even Asia as a whole, is further adopting the most advanced information technologies, which will not only sharpen its competitive edge but also cut costs. His views were agreed by most attendees, many of them believing that under a maturing manufacturing environment in Asia, Chinese manufacturers are still facing many challenges.

According to Albert Li, Industrial Sector Executive of IBM, Chinese companies are marching towards international markets, with their business evolving from simple assembly to research and development. In the technological aspect, China enjoys the "advantage of backwardness" which enables it to introduce technologies at a cost much lower than when they were originally developed and has turned the nation into an attractive manufacturing base.

The growing Chinese market offers plenty of opportunities, and Chinese and Asian manufactures should strive to cross two barriers¡ªcompetitive differences and localization, said Steven Eisenbrown, Senior Vice President of Automation Control and Information Group, Rockwell Automation.

James Miller, Vice President of Manufacturing Operations, Cisco Systems, pointed out that today's Asia and China should be a part of transnational companies' global strategies, so low cost is far from enough. China has been shifting from a low-cost manufacturing center into a world-class manufacturing base.

By People's Daily Online