China Manufacturing

Most developed economies today are often described as “post-industrial” because they tend to have a shrinking manufacturing base and a growing service industry. There are many reasons for this phenomenon, one of which is that it is often more profitable for businesses to outsource operations to places with cheap labor, non-restrictive labor and environmental laws, etc. But the Chinese economy, one of the most influential and fastest-growing in the world, is remarkable in that virtually every major sector of it is vibrant and growing. This includes the Chinese manufacturing and industrial production sector, which today provides a lot of industrial machinery and goods to all kinds of more- or less-developed nations around the world.

Fairly recently, in 2005, Chinese industrial production made up more than half of the Chinese GDP. This is quite remarkable in the world of modern, developed economies, and this positions China on an upward industrial trajectory that will, according to some experts, pass the United States, European nations, Japan, and other industrial powerhouses on most counts in the foreseeable future. Even the average American or European consumer can sense Chinese economic influence when they go to a store and see that the majority of consumer items, including electronics, hi-tech equipment, and clothes, are made in China.

Chinese industry focuses on many things, including a lot of essential high-end production (that is, higher up in the chain of production, e.g. mining raw materials, producing industrial machinery and wholesale goods, versus end-user consumer goods), with extensive mining, energy, and heavy industrial machinery sectors. Other sectors of Chinese manufacturing, such as consumer electronics and automobiles, are also strong, vibrant, and growing.

Like it or not, China is, by most accounts, poised to be the industrial and manufacturing engine of the global economy, and the mass production and wholesale of cheap but quality Chinese industrial and consumer goods is part of why more-developed nations can maintain such a high standard of living.

Tags: chinese economic, chinese economic influence, chinese economy, chinese gdp, chinese industrial, chinese industrial production, chinese industry, chinese manufacturing, quality chinese