“Made in China” once represented the lowest-cost manufacturing in the world. Not anymore. Labor costs have been steadily rising, environmental regulations are much stricter now, and, as of last year, Chinese products exported to the U.S. come with expensive tariffs.

In response, Chinese manufacturers have been moving their operations overseas, sparking an intense global competition among many of the world’s poorest countries to see who can attract that investment. Southeast Asia, at least so far, appears to be the big winner. But other regions, including Africa, aren’t giving up — countries such Ethiopia are aggressively positioning themselves as an ideal gateway for Chinese producers to access the European, U.S., and even the Chinese market itself.

Jia Yu from the Institute of New Structural Economics at Peking University, one of Beijing’s most prestigious international development think tanks, closely follows the Chinese offshoring trends and has conducted extensive research on Chinese Special Economic Zone development in Ethiopia and in various Asian countries. She joins Eric & Cobus to explain where Chinese manufacturers are going and whether African countries are well-positioned now to pick up some of that business.

Show Notes:

• South China Morning Post: China finds manufacturing opportunities in low-wage Africa by Jevans Nyabiage
• Brookings Institution: Migration of Chinese manufacturing jobs to Africa: Myth or reality? by Tilman Altenburg
• The Citizen: Can Africa possibly take China’s manufacturing jobs? by Charles Makakala

About Jia Yu:

Jia Yu is responsible for the application of New Structural Economics to the international investment practice. Her research fields focus on empirical studies of China’s “Going Global”, diagnosis of industrial park and Special Economic Zones, as well as China’s overseas investment and the interaction of the manufacturing, energy and mining sector and their roles in the process of industrialization for Belts & Roads countries. Prior to joining the INSE, Dr. Yu had worked as a Director of Dept. of Business Development & Public Relations at State Power Investment Corp. (SPIC) where she gained over eight years’ experience in overseas investments (energy and mining), research on global resources market and China’s outward FDI, business negotiations, government affairs and public relations at coporate level. She started her career as a consultant for the utility industry with Accenture after receiving her Ph.D. degree in Development Economics from CERDI-CNRS in France and her two bachelor’s degrees in French Language and Literature and Economics from Peking University.