US moves against Chinese technology may backfire

Subject The impact of US tariffs on China's Made In China 2025 industrial policy framework. Significance 'Made in China 2025' has become a byword for US grievances against China's trade and investment policies. US tariffs against Chinese products are primarily aimed not at trimming the bilateral trade deficit, but at forcing China to abandon policies by which it hopes to challenge the US position as the global high-tech leader. As such, the tariffs target the high-tech sectors Beijing seeks to develop. Impacts China will step up efforts to reduce reliance on US suppliers. Washington may press other countries to block Chinese investment or supplies of key components. China will seek greater high-tech cooperation with Russia; Russia will oblige. China may make greater use of cyberattacks in order to obtain advanced US technology.

Subject China's Made In China 2025 industrial policy framework. Significance Made In China 2025 (MIC 2025) is a ten-year policy framework for comprehensively upgrading the technological base of China’s manufacturing sector. Its aims to make the country a world leader in high-tech production, and switch it to an innovation-driven and environmentally sustainable pattern of economic growth. Impacts Chinese policymakers will use market forces selectively, seeing them as just one tool among others. There is a risk that heavy state involvement will in some cases hold back competition and innovative private entrepreneurship. Penalties from Washington and other governments will raise the cost of technological espionage, but perhaps not prohibitively. Resistance to Chinese high-tech acquisitions will grow stronger in the West, not only in the United States.


Subject The impact of the Wuhan COVID-19 lockdown on China's high-tech development plans. Significance The city of Wuhan -- the origin and epicentre of the COVID-19 epidemic, and target of the country’s longest and most severe lockdown -- plays a significant role in the China’s Made In China 2025 plan to develop indigenous high-tech industries. Impacts Wuhan will suffer long-lasting stigma as the origin of COVID-19, which may affect its ability to compete with other tech hubs for talent. The city’s large fibre-optic sector may in the long run lose out from efforts by customers to diversify their suppliers. Tech firms are likely to be made a priority in government recovery spending. Key people in strategic sectors may have got priority medical treatment, but COVID-19 may still adversely affect the high-tech workforce.


Subject China's global market presence in the sectors targeted for development by Made In China 2025. Significance Beijing's 'Made in China 2025' framework aims to make China a leading player in ten high-technology sectors. China’s current position in the global market varies greatly from one targeted industry to another. Comparison with the United States as the world's economic superpower and China’s main rival helps put the grievances Washington expresses towards China in context. Impacts China’s ability to compete on technology and quality will rise significantly, especially in advanced non-electrical and transport machinery. Domestic political pressure on the US government will rise as more US firms face Chinese competition. Trade tensions with the United States will spur indigenous development of technologies for which Chinese firms now depend on US suppliers. A cohort of globally competitive Chinese high-tech firms will develop first; upgrading the whole Chinese economy will take far longer. Even when the technological gap narrows, Chinese firms will continue seeking to acquire high-tech firms in developed countries.


Subject Guizhou province's plans to establish a 'big data' hub. Significance Under the 'Made in China 2025' industrial policy framework, the provincial government of Guizhou, a Chinese province showing GDP growth twice as fast as that of the country, is betting on using big data to drive its economy, with extensive support from a central government that aims to make Guizhou the ‘Big Data Valley’ of China. Impacts Backed by a large amount of credit, Guizhou will continue to be among China's fastest growing provinces. State firms working in power, energy and infrastructure will get a boost from the construction of data centres. The provincial government will invest in building skills and could introduce new IT and engineering programmes.


Subject China's industrial policy. Significance At the heart of the current US-China confrontation over trade and investment is China's ambition to challenge US technological and industrial superiority. This ambition is now often treated as synonymous with its best-known element, the 'Made in China 2025' initiative (MIC 2025) -- a grand plan that sets ambitious targets for expanding high-end manufacturing. Impacts An uneasy relationship between China and the West regarding technology might delay release of technical standards for emerging technologies. China will invest heavily in its basic scientific research capabilities, but will not match the United States any time soon. It may become more difficult to obtain critical information on high-tech sectors and policies if government decides to downplay them.


Subject The impact of the China-US trade tariffs on Japan's economy. Significance As trade talks between the United States and China stumble toward a March 1 self-imposed US deadline, US tariffs and Chinese retaliations are influencing global trade patterns. Japan as a major trading nation has much at stake. Impacts Japanese producers are examining relocation options for products now made in China. South-east Asia, not Japan, is the top candidate for supply chain relocation. Mexico also is another candidate for substitute production because of its location and technology skills. If the United States follows up its threat to impose a 25% tariff on its imports of autos and parts this would hit Japan’s auto exports.


2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boy Lüthje

The article examines the development of advanced digital manufacturing (as outlined in the ‘Made-in-China 2025’ government plan) from the perspective of the changing socio-technical paradigms of production. The analysis focuses on the transformations of value chains and work, based on theories of social shaping of technology, regulation theory and regimes of production. Analytically, the author proposes to distinguish between ‘production-driven’ and ‘distribution-driven’ pathways of manufacturing digitalisation. The transformation of semi-rural industrial areas (‘Taobao villages’, named after China’s largest e-commerce platform Taobao) into mass production clusters for e-commerce is depicted as a paradigmatic model of distribution-driven transformation and as a characteristic Chinese strategy in this field. The article examines the impact on industry supply chains and work, leading to ever-more precarious conditions of employment. Policy recommendations focus on local strategies to stabilise supply chain structures and working conditions, as an alternative to the present top-down approaches to manufacturing modernisation in China.


2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 872-887 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongli Wang

Purpose Creativity itself does not necessarily lead to idea implementation. The purpose of this paper is to deeply understand the impact of the individual culture value orientation on employees’ motivation on whether they want to push creative ideas into implementation. Design/methodology/approach In this study, drawing on socially desirable responding (SDR) theory, the author reasons that individual value on power distance and superficial harmony and that these two factors interact to influence employees transform their creativity into implementation. The author argues that prevalence of the failure where creativity cannot be transformed into implementation results from the lack of understanding for two elusive individual culture value orientations: individual superficial harmony orientations (ISHO) and individual power distance orientations (IPDO). Data from 66 middle managers and 301 members of five high-tech firms provide a considerable support for the hypothesized model. Findings The results showed that individuals were able to improve the possibility of putting their creative ideas into practice when they are both lower in IPDO and ISHO. Originality/value Such findings help the author to understand how individual cultural value orientation complements each other to generate joint impact on the relationship between their creative ideas to idea implementation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 347-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Brochado ◽  
Paulo Rita ◽  
Ana Margarido

Purpose This paper presents an analysis of the impact of current technologies on customer experiences in upscale hotels and assesses the potential of the latest technologies for enhancing customers’ stay. Design/methodology/approach A two-step approach was applied in this study. The qualitative phase included an examination of upscale hotel websites, interviews with hotel managers and an internet search regarding the latest technological innovations in hotels. In the quantitative stage, a questionnaire was developed for hotel guests, generating a sample of 310 valid completed questionnaires. Findings The results reveal that hotel guests value digital involvement in their hotel experience. Moreover, business travellers and younger generations give greater importance to latest technologies. Originality/value This study analyses the most innovative technologies, providing guidance for hoteliers wishing to upgrade or implement new technologies. Based on the findings, hoteliers can achieve greater differentiation by offering the most important and latest technology to guests, enhancing their experience and attracting new customers, which can potentially lead to increased revenues. The study’s results are also important because they include the perceptions of both managers and customers.


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