‘Made in China’ will continue, commerce minister says, despite de-risking efforts

Name: An unwinnable conflict? The US-China trade war, 5 years on
Uploaded: 2024-01-18T10:00:12.000Z
Duration: 14 min 45 s
Description: An unwinnable conflict? The US-China trade war, 5 years on

China’s commerce minister has pledged to draw foreign investment and activity, but also warned against efforts to ‘sanction’ or ‘suppress’

Wide-ranging interview featured comments on China’s export strengths, countermeasures against plans to diversify supply chains

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Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao has come out in defence of a continuing “Made in China” strategy, and against efforts to move supply chains out of the country. Photo: Reuters

Amanda Lee

Published: 6:00pm, 18 Jan 2024Updated: 4:48pm, 19 Jan 2024

China’s commerce minister said his office would press on to promote its “Made in China” strategy amid growing efforts from foreign investors to diversify their portfolios, but it would not shy away from protecting against “unreasonable sanctions and suppression”.

Wang Wentao acknowledged that plans such as “China plus one” and “China plus N”, implemented by multinationals to manage risk by diversifying their supply chains from China, are creating challenges while still expressing confidence that China has the ability to overcome hurdles.

“The difficulties and challenges facing China’s foreign trade development cannot be ignored, but favourable conditions are stronger than the unfavourable factors,” said Wang in a Thursday interview with state media outlet People’s Daily. “It is expected that China will remain the largest country in goods trade in 2023.”

14:45

An unwinnable conflict? The US-China trade war, 5 years on

Beijing is struggling to retain its allure for overseas investors as confidence wanes and the country undergoes a shaky recovery. Concerns linger over the unpredictability of policy and tightening controls related to national security, and foreign direct investment declined to 1.13 trillion yuan in 2023, an 8 per cent drop compared to 2022, ministry data showed.

“We will continue to build the Invest in China brand and attract more foreign investment to Made in China and Service in China,” Wang said, referring to government initiatives to bed more economic activity in the country. Overseas companies, he added, will not only be “in China for China” – they will be “in China for the world”.

Wang pointed to China’s success last year in the export of electric vehicles, lithium batteries and solar cells as examples of new industries enhancing the country’s status despite weaker global trade growth.

In the face of unreasonable sanctions and suppression, we will take effective measures to safeguard national interests

Wang Wentao

Further, Wang said, China is committed to expanding imports, especially in bleeding-edge technology and equipment.

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