#Newspaper

Covid-19 is teaching hard lessons about China-only supply chains

//quarantine controls that locked down factories, ports and whole cities across China.

//Chinese leaders insist that they are well on the way to conquering the virus, allowing them to reopen “leading enterprises and key links with important influence” in global supply chains

//foreign governments and business bosses will not quickly forget a frightening lesson: for some vital products, they depend on one country.

//Ending the world’s dependence on Chinese apis would not be a technical challenge. China has not been dominant for long.

//whether covid-19 will accelerate trends in America and other Western countries to decouple from China.

//“the national-security risks of increased Chinese dominance of the global api market cannot be overstated.”

//mutual dependency was once seen as a reason to believe that Sino-American relations were stable and safe. But in an age of rising distrust... “much of what has supported the modern era of globalisation is no longer valid.”

//China’s dominance in sectors like pharmaceuticals and pesticides is a topic of concern... It does not help that China has shown itself willing to use trade to bully other countries during political disputes

//Hit by rising labour costs, trade tensions and now the virus, companies have concluded that they need to diversify—though many are struggling to find countries with China’s infrastructure and adaptable labour force.

//One visible impact of the virus may be to speed changes at the top of firms. Multinationals have increasingly appointed Chinese executives (often Western-educated) to run their China operations.

//Some old-timers feel less welcome in a China taking a nationalist, authoritarian turn.

Full article: The Economist, (29-Feb)
https://econ.st/3cLBvBm

#Coronavirus #Economy #SupplyChain

#Newspaper

Coronavirus: Can India replace China as world's factory?

//With Covid-19 infecting millions across the world, China is facing an unprecedented global backlash that could destabilise its reign as the world's factory of choice.

//Its neighbour India has sensed an opportunity and is keen to make inroads to a space it hopes China will vacate sooner rather than later.

//China's weakened global position is a "blessing in disguise" for India to attract more investment

//"Covid will only accelerate the process of de-risking from China for many of these companies."

//The US-India Business Council (USIBC), a powerful lobby group that works to enhance investment flows between India and the US, also said that India has significantly stepped up its pitch.

//But things are still at an evaluation stage and decisions are unlikely to be made in a hurry.

//In an environment where global balance sheets are fractured, relocating entire supply chains is easier said than done.

//Another reason India might not be the obvious choice for global multinationals is because it isn't well integrated with major global supply chains.

//As things stand, Vietnam, Bangladesh, South Korea and Taiwan seem to be favourites to benefit from the backlash against China. The latter two at the "high-tech end of the spectrum" and Vietnam and Bangladesh at the lower end.

//Multinationals began moving production out of China into these countries nearly a decade ago due to rising labour and environmental costs. The slow exodus has only gathered pace as US-China trade tensions have increased in recent years.

//The time is ripe, say experts, for India to undertake broad-based structural reforms and use these sweeping geopolitical shifts to modify its trading relationship with the world.

Full article:BBC, (18-May)

#China #worldsfactory #India #supplychain #Coronavirus

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-52672510

#FirstHand #27May
Hongkongers Fight On In Protest of National Security Law and National Anthem Law

1635 | #MongKok
Citizens marched on the road with umbrellas in their hands. Those at the front asking for cables ties to be passed from the back, and told the crowd to maintain distance from each other.

The controversial National Security Law and the National Anthem Law, which have been condemned by legal experts and the international open societies as a threat to rights and freedom, are expected to be forcefully imposed on Hong Kong by the Chinese Communist Party government in China and Beijing-influenced Legislature in Hong Kong respectively.

#SupplyChain #NationalAnthemLaw #NationalSecurityLaw #HongKongProtests

US Government updates the announcement of supply chains involving Xinjiang indicating there is high risk of offending the law

USA updates the announcement of supply chains involving Xinjiang, the added contents indicates that there might confront high risk of offending the laws if not breaking away the relevant supply chain.

Updated announcement clearly indicates that there is misdemeanor related to continuously genocide and violating human rights in Xinjiang, and they keep the descriptions related to forced labor, human rights violation and invasive monitor, and shows these actions gains support from the country.

The Trade Representative Office and Labor Department has participated in formulating the announcement and enclose the links of information from various departments. The announcement indicates that they have considered how serious and how big the scale for human rights violation, if enterprises and individuals don’t quit the involved supply chain and the relevant investments related to Xinjiang, they may confront the high risk of offending US laws.

Source: I-Cable #Jul13

http://cablenews.i-cable.com/ci/news/article/37/749506?utm_source=hk.iott.app&utm_campaign=share&ts=1626292919418

#US #government #supplychain #Xinjiang #investment