Yao Yang: China will remain the world's manufacturing center

The "New Pattern of Industrial and Supply Chain" sub-forum was held during the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2023 on the afternoon of March 28. Mr. Yao Yang, Dean of National School of Development at Peking University and the Chairperson of the CASVI, expressed his views on the new global pattern. He believes that the new geopolitical changes are already a reality faced by the world, and the diversification and globalization of enterprises is reasonable, but risks need to be evaluated reasonably. He also pointed out that the relocation of production facilities by some manufacturing companies to Southeast Asia and South Asia is a natural process, and geopolitical factors only accelerated this process. At the same time, this is also a positive development for developing countries around China, such as ASEAN and India,as they will integrate more closely with China's manufacturing industry and improve China's geopolitical situation to some extent.

Regarding the issue of decoupling between China and the United States, Yao Yang stated that it may be difficult for some American forces to decouple from China. He pointed out that over the past decade, the main production of Apple smartphones is from China and South Korea, and even if some production facilities are relocated to India or neighboring countries, some intermediate components still need to be imported from China, which will also drive the upgrade of China's industries. He also stated that if Asia is viewed as a whole, nothing has really changed. China has only shifted some of its exports to Southeast Asia, which then exports to the United States. In other words, China does not directly export to the United States but exports through neighboring countries, and the world's manufacturing industry still flows to this region. Yao Yang said, "The game has changed, but the essence has not changed. China is still the world's production center."