Trouble in the Making?
Trouble in the Making?

Author: Mary Hallward-Driemeier

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2017-10-12

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 1464811938

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Technology and globalization are threatening manufacturing’s traditional ability to deliver both productivity and jobs at a large scale for unskilled workers. Concerns about widening inequality within and across countries are raising questions about whether interventions are needed and how effective they could be. Trouble in the Making? The Future of Manufacturing-Led Development addresses three questions: - How has the global manufacturing landscape changed and why does this matter for development opportunities? - How are emerging trends in technology and globalization likely to shape the feasibility and desirability of manufacturing-led development in the future? - If low wages are going to be less important in defining competitiveness, how can less industrialized countries make the most of new opportunities that shifting technologies and globalization patterns may bring? The book examines the impacts of new technologies (i.e., the Internet of Things, 3-D printing, and advanced robotics), rising international competition, and increased servicification on manufacturing productivity and employment. The aim is to inform policy choices for countries currently producing and for those seeking to enter new manufacturing markets. Increased polarization is a risk, but the book analyzes ways to go beyond focusing on potential disruptions to position workers, firms, and locations for new opportunities. www.worldbank.org/futureofmanufacturing

The Myth of Chinese Capitalism
The Myth of Chinese Capitalism

Author: Dexter Roberts

Publisher: Macmillan + ORM

Published: 2020-03-10

Total Pages: 183

ISBN-13: 1250089387

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The “vivid, provocative” untold story of how restrictive policies are preventing China from becoming the world’s largest economy (Evan Osnos). Dexter Roberts lived in Beijing for two decades working as a reporter on economics, business and politics for Bloomberg Businessweek. In The Myth of Chinese Capitalism, Roberts explores the reality behind today’s financially-ascendant China and pulls the curtain back on how the Chinese manufacturing machine is actually powered. He focuses on two places: the village of Binghuacun in the province of Guizhou, one of China’s poorest regions that sends the highest proportion of its youth away to become migrants; and Dongguan, China’s most infamous factory town located in Guangdong, home to both the largest number of migrant workers and the country’s biggest manufacturing base. Within these two towns and the people that move between them, Roberts focuses on the story of the Mo family, former farmers-turned-migrant-workers who are struggling to make a living in a fast-changing country that relegates one-half of its people to second-class status via household registration, land tenure policies and inequality in education and health care systems. In The Myth of Chinese Capitalism, Dexter Roberts brings to life the problems that China and its people face today as they attempt to overcome a divisive system that poses a serious challenge to the country’s future development. In so doing, Roberts paints a boots-on-the-ground cautionary picture of China for a world now held in its financial thrall. Praise for The Myth of Chinese Capitalism “A gimlet-eyed look at an economic miracle that may not be so miraculous after all.” —Kirkus Reviews “A clearheaded and persuasive counter-narrative to the notion that the Chinese economic model is set to take over the world. Readers looking for an informed and nuanced perspective on modern China will find it here.” —Publishers Weekly “A sophisticated and readable take of China’s triumphs and crises. . . . A first-hand witness to China’s transformation over the past quarter century, Roberts credibly challenges the myth of China’s inevitable rise and global dominance.” —Ian Johnson, Pulitzer Prize–winning author and Beijing-based correspondent “A potent mix of personal stories and deft analysis, The Myth of Chinese Capitalism takes a hard look at China’s migrants and rural people.” —Mei Fong, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author of One Child: The Story of China’s Most RadicalExperiment

Advanced Manufacturing Technology in China: A Roadmap to 2050
Advanced Manufacturing Technology in China: A Roadmap to 2050

Author: Tianran Wang

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-03-02

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 3642138551

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As one of the eighteen field-specific reports comprising the comprehensive scope of the strategic general report of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, this sub-report addresses long-range planning for developing science and technology in the field of advanced manufacturing technology. They each craft a roadmap for their sphere of development to 2050. In their entirety, the general and sub-group reports analyze the evolution and laws governing the development of science and technology, describe the decisive impact of science and technology on the modernization process, predict that the world is on the eve of an impending S&T revolution, and call for China to be fully prepared for this new round of S&T advancement. Based on the detailed study of the demands on S&T innovation in China’s modernization, the reports draw a framework for eight basic and strategic systems of socio-economic development with the support of science and technology, work out China’s S&T roadmaps for the relevant eight basic and strategic systems in line with China’s reality, further detail S&T initiatives of strategic importance to China’s modernization, and provide S&T decision-makers with comprehensive consultations for the development of S&T innovation consistent with China’s reality. Supported by illustrations and tables of data, the reports provide researchers, government officials and entrepreneurs with guidance concerning research directions, the planning process, and investment. Founded in 1949, the Chinese Academy of Sciences is the nation’s highest academic institution in natural sciences. Its major responsibilities are to conduct research in basic and technological sciences, to undertake nationwide integrated surveys on natural resources and ecological environment, to provide the country with scientific data and consultations for government’s decision-making, to undertake government-assigned projects with regard to key S&T problems in the process of socio-economic development, to initiate personnel training, and to promote China’s high-tech enterprises through its active engagement in these areas.

The Next Factory of the World
The Next Factory of the World

Author: Irene Yuan Sun

Publisher: Harvard Business Press

Published: 2017-10-17

Total Pages: 233

ISBN-13: 1633692825

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A Best Business Book of 2017 -- The Financial Times China is now the biggest foreign player in Africa. It's Africa's largest trade partner, the largest infrastructure financier, and the fastest-growing source of foreign direct investment. Chinese entrepreneurs are flooding into the continent, investing in long-term assets such as factories and heavy equipment. Considering Africa's difficult history of colonialism, one might suspect that China's activity there is another instance of a foreign power exploiting resources. But as author Irene Yuan Sun vividly shows in this remarkable book, it is really a story about resilient Chinese entrepreneurs building in Africa what they so recently learned to build in China--a global manufacturing powerhouse. The fact that China sees Africa not for its poverty but for its potential wealth is a striking departure from the attitude of the West, particularly that of the United States. Despite fifty years of Western aid programs, Africa still has more people living in extreme poverty than any other region in the world. Those who are serious about raising living standards across the continent know that another strategy is needed. Chinese investment gives rise to a tantalizing possibility: that Africa can industrialize in the coming generation. With a manufacturing-led transformation, Africa would be following in the footsteps of the United States in the nineteenth century, Japan in the early twentieth, and the Asian Tigers in the late twentieth. Many may consider this an old-fashioned way to develop, but as Sun argues, it's the only one that's proven to raise living standards across entire societies in a lasting way. And with every new Chinese factory boss setting up machinery and hiring African workers--and managers--that possibility becomes more real for Africa. With fascinating and moving human stories along with incisive business and economic analysis, The Next Factory of the World will make you rethink both China's role in the world and Africa's future in the globalized economy.

The Future of Chinese Manufacturing
The Future of Chinese Manufacturing

Author: TACHIA Chin

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2018-05-24

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 0081012322

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The Future of Chinese Manufacturing: Employment and Labour Challenges gives context and analysis on employment and labor issues in contemporary China, specifically relating to manufacturing industries. With one fifth of the world's workforce, China has taken advantage of its cheap labor to serve as the world's factory, achieving stunning growth for two decades. This book covers the appreciation of RMB, constant increases in minimum wage, shortages of skilled workers in China's labor-intensive manufacturing sector, and the fact that many large multinational corporations (MNCs) must cut costs, and are thus shifting their main production bases to other developing countries. Under such a tough situation, and coupled with the global economic slowdown, manufacturing employment in China confronts severe labor-related challenges, such as high turnover rates, recruitment difficulties for workers, and a series of high profile labor strikes and publicity concerning working conditions. - Integrates human capital and cultural theories - Analyzes looming labor unrest and related workforce issues in China through a unique context-specific lens - Explores the roles that Chinese institutions and culture play in resolving problems related to these issues

China's Future
China's Future

Author: David Shambaugh

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2016-03-11

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 1509507175

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China's future is arguably the most consequential question in global affairs. Having enjoyed unprecedented levels of growth, China is at a critical juncture in the development of its economy, society, polity, national security, and international relations. The direction the nation takes at this turning point will determine whether it stalls or continues to develop and prosper. Will China be successful in implementing a new wave of transformational reforms that could last decades and make it the world's leading superpower? Or will its leaders shy away from the drastic changes required because the regime's power is at risk? If so, will that lead to prolonged stagnation or even regime collapse? Might China move down a more liberal or even democratic path? Or will China instead emerge as a hard, authoritarian and aggressive superstate? In this new book, David Shambaugh argues that these potential pathways are all possibilities - but they depend on key decisions yet to be made by China's leaders, different pressures from within Chinese society, as well as actions taken by other nations. Assessing these scenarios and their implications, he offers a thoughtful and clear study of China's future for all those seeking to understand the country's likely trajectory over the coming decade and beyond.

China 2049
China 2049

Author: David Dollar

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Published: 2020-06-09

Total Pages: 444

ISBN-13: 0815738064

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How will China reform its economy as it aspires to become the next economic superpower? It's clear that China is the world's next economic superpower. But what isn't so clear is how China will get there by the middle of this century. It now faces tremendous challenges such as fostering innovation, dealing with ageing problem and coping with a less accommodative global environment. In this book, economists from China's leading university and America's best-known think tank offer in depth analyses of these challenges. Does China have enough talent and right policy and institutional mix to transit from input-driven to innovation-driven economy? What does ageing mean, in terms of labor supply, consumption demand and social welfare expenditure? Can China contain the environmental and climate change risks? How should the financial system be transformed in order to continuously support economic growth and keep financial risks under control? What fiscal reforms are required in order to balance between economic efficiency and social harmony? What roles should the state-owned enterprises play in the future Chinese economy? In addition, how will technological competition between the United States and China affect each country's development? Will the Chinese yuan emerge as a major reserve currency, and would this destabilize the international financial system? What will be China's role in the international economic institutions? And will the United States and other established powers accept a growing role for China and the rest of the developing world in the governance of global institutions such as the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund, or will the world devolve into competing blocs? This book provides unique insights into independent analyses and policy recommendations by a group of top Chinese and American scholars. Whether China succeeds or fails in economic reform will have a large impact, not just on China's development, but also on stability and prosperity for the whole world.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution
The Fourth Industrial Revolution

Author: Klaus Schwab

Publisher: Crown Currency

Published: 2017-01-03

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 1524758876

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World-renowned economist Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, explains that we have an opportunity to shape the fourth industrial revolu­tion, which will fundamentally alter how we live and work. Schwab argues that this revolution is different in scale, scope and complexity from any that have come before. Characterized by a range of new technologies that are fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds, the developments are affecting all disciplines, economies, industries and governments, and even challenging ideas about what it means to be human. Artificial intelligence is already all around us, from supercomputers, drones and virtual assistants to 3D printing, DNA sequencing, smart thermostats, wear­able sensors and microchips smaller than a grain of sand. But this is just the beginning: nanomaterials 200 times stronger than steel and a million times thinner than a strand of hair and the first transplant of a 3D printed liver are already in development. Imagine “smart factories” in which global systems of manu­facturing are coordinated virtually, or implantable mobile phones made of biosynthetic materials. The fourth industrial revolution, says Schwab, is more significant, and its ramifications more profound, than in any prior period of human history. He outlines the key technologies driving this revolution and discusses the major impacts expected on government, business, civil society and individu­als. Schwab also offers bold ideas on how to harness these changes and shape a better future—one in which technology empowers people rather than replaces them; progress serves society rather than disrupts it; and in which innovators respect moral and ethical boundaries rather than cross them. We all have the opportunity to contribute to developing new frame­works that advance progress.

Created in China
Created in China

Author: Georges Haour

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2016-01-14

Total Pages: 201

ISBN-13: 1472925149

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Undisputedly, China has become the world's manufacturing powerhouse, accounting for around half of all personal computers, digital cameras and kitchen appliances. However, the country is fast transitioning from low-cost manufacturing to a higher-value, innovation-led economy, a critical transformation that is at the heart of this new title. Companies are the essential engines of the wealth-creation process, particularly in the areas of internet and mobile telecommunications, and firms such as Tencent and Xiaomi are showing clear potential to become major players. Demonstrating strong commitment to the country's relentless progress in the realm of innovation, the Chinese government has encouraged the development of a business environment in which firms can experiment, operate and thrive. Created in China provides an examination of the critical human factors at play, as well as re-assessing some of the metrics traditionally used to describe and measure China's capacity for innovation. As Chinese firms begin to transform the country into a truly global innovator, the emerging patterns of future innovation are identified and reviewed. New and dynamic practices are arising that are recognisably Chinese, yet at the same time capable of competing on the world stage. Following the successes of firms such as Huawei, Haier and Lenovo, a growing number of technology-focused firms are now turning their attention towards markets outside of China – a development that will not only benefit the country but will provide exciting opportunities for businesses throughout the world.