China versus MITI-V: Who Will be the World’s Producer?
For decades, China has been known as the world’s producer, with over two trillion dollars in output, with 20% of global manufacturing. A ‘Made in China’ sticker is commonplace on goods sold in the west. Cheap labor is readily available, as there is no set minimum wage for factory workers, and factories are not required to follow the same guidelines many Western countries do. Along with this, China’s economy only seems to be growing; with their ‘Made in China 2025’ initiative, which is how they hope to become one of the dominant countries in high tech production, their growth will accelerate exponentially.
But how long will China maintain its position as a worldwide production powerhouse? Other nations are rising in importance when it involves manufacturing, one of the most notable being India. Large companies such as Samsung are relocating their factories from China to India. Another tech company, Apple, began manufacturing phones in India in 2017, and still does, having shifted their production from China to India and other nations. This is due to China’s focus on moving away from low-cost manufacturing and towards “medium and high tech manufacturing”. The focus shifted because of the increasing cost of manufacturing goods in China, as the average hourly rate for factory workers is around $6.50, which is over a 20% increase when compared to previous years. Meaning it is only slightly cheaper to manufacture goods in China compared to the United States, which leads businesses to look elsewhere. It is likely that China will evolve to become dominant in the field of manufacturing complex and high tech goods.
By 2022, the MITI-V, ‘mighty five’, Malaysia, India, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam, are predicted to be in the top 15 nations in the manufacturing competitive index, according to Deloitte. It is likely that these five nations will slowly take on the role of mass producing basic goods. They all have a large population, stable infrastructure, and low costs when it comes to paying workers. India appears to be taking the lead when it comes to these five nations, as it has the highest population and some of the lowest wages in the world for their workers, with an average of two dollars an hour being paid to factory workers. Along with this, it also has major potential when it comes to IT services and internet-based businesses, which are becoming more important as time moves forward.
Malaysia is another big competitor to China, especially with the introduction of the Automotive High-Tech Valley which will make Malaysia a “hub for electric vehicle manufacturers”. It is expected to generate hundreds of thousands of jobs for both construction and operations. Along with this, their textile industry is set to grow by billions in the coming years. The other MITI-V nations follow closely behind these two, but it is predicted that India will pull ahead and take over most of the world’s production needs. As the fourth largest economy in the world, while it is behind China by over $10 trillion, it is closing the gap fast. It is unclear when this gap will be closed, but as China moves to manufacturing complex goods, India moves to take over mass producing basic goods, with the help of other mighty five countries.