Trade war is spurring China’s hi-tech innovators into overdrive
- Trump’s campaign to contain China’s rise has galvanised its hi-tech sector to accelerate design and invention
In Shenzhen’s glitzy financial district, a five-year-old outfit creates a 360-degree sports camera that goes on to win awards and draw comparisons to GoPro. Elsewhere in the Pearl River Delta, a niche design house is competing with the world’s best headphone makers. And in the capital Beijing, a little-known start-up becomes one of the biggest purveyors of smart watches on the planet.
The threat they pose is one of unmatchable geography: by bringing design expertise and innovation to the place where devices are manufactured, these companies are able to develop products faster and more cheaply.
“Ninety per cent of the world’s headphones are produced in China, 90 per cent of China’s headphones are produced in Guangdong [province], and 90 per cent of Guangdong’s headphones are made in Dongguan,” said SIVGA co-founder and product chief Zhou Jian, an 18-year audio industry veteran who has done work for global brands like Sennheiser Electronic, Sony and Bose.