Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Non-Fiction 2018 | Page 21
The Manufacturer of the World
German Swiss International School, Lam, Aristobulus - 11
“D
ad, what is that apartment complex doing here? It’s China, not Italy,” I asked my father
incredulously.
“That’s not an apartment complex, that’s Huawei’s new Research and Development Centre. They made it
all Westernised to look modern. This took millions of dollars but it’s all worth it, eh? More orders for phone
parts!” My father, the CEO of an OEM factory for Huawei, chuckled.
Only then did I discover the reality of Chinese manufacturing. Of course, I had already seen the Made in
China stamp on almost anything I bought, but to experience this phenomenon in person felt different. It
seemed that Chinese state-backed companies had almost unlimited funding.
***
First, a history lesson. China was once the “manufacturer of the world”. Though, back then, it was with
agriculture, not phones. Eastern China, especially the Pearl River Delta, was perfect for planning-- China’s
geography, with its vast, spanning coastline, enabled traders to reach the rest of Asia and even Eastern China
during the Ming Dynasty. That was 200 years before Europe arose from its Dark Ages and the Age of
Exploration began. Europe paled in comparison then. The disunity that plagued its politics rendered Europe
unable to fund large expeditions to the outside world.
Fast-forward 400 years: the exact opposite was taking place. China’s Qing Dynasty was riddled with
corruption and Western powers came to exploit this. The Opium War and the Eight-Nation Alliance
invasion into Beijing during the Boxer Rebellion proved disastrous to China’s economy. Furthermore, it
showed a fundamental weakness in China’s government, unable to retaliate against stronger foreign states.
Social unrest in China was at large, and the Qing dynasty was on the verge of collapsing.
Therein lies the reason why China soared to prominence in manufacturing:the poverty of the Qing people
propelled them to do whatever it took to get food and basic life necessities.
Foreign companies jumped at the chance to lower their manufacturing costs to be more competitive. To
find low-cost, unskilled labour, transnational companies flocked to China, and thanks to containerization,
their shipping costs were negligible.
So how does the industry look in the present day? Spectacular. Products that are being manufactured range
from the flagship pair of shoes in your favourite clothing store to next-generation innovative phones.
The Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin (IFA), which is one of Germany’s oldest industrial shows,
demonstrated China’s manufacturing prowess. Many OEM companies display their products there. Most, if
not all, are from China, and the majority originated from Shenzhen.
Several Chinese firms, due to their close proximity with foreign companies, are able to learn from them and
create their own brands like Huawei, OnePlus, Oppo, Xiaomi, Anker and many more. These companies
also receive state-backed funding in an attempt to gain an even footing with foreign competitors.
Nowadays, these brands are all recognizable worldwide. OnePlus sold a huge amount of phones to overseas
enthusiasts with their first flagship OnePlus One. Huawei phones can be seen to be reviewed in a lot of
technology channels throughout YouTube.
Yet China’s manufacturing prowess can also be the greatest flaw in its economy. The manufacturing industry
is propelling the economy and granting it prosperity; on paper, it sounds really good, but is actually going to
destroy China’s secondary industry. The prosperity has made cost of living in cities soar, and housing is
increasingly hard to get.