China’s huge economic growth in the 1980s and 1990s was partly fueled by a huge manufacturing boom that produced low-priced goods for export.
But with wages now rising in China and a growing middle-class demanding high quality goods and services, the model has been changing rapidly.
And as Chinese factories produce more valuable goods using more technology, former factory workers are finding jobs in other sectors.
When it comes to the future of Chinese manufacturing, it could well be the automotive sector.
For example, Trumpchi, a SUV brand owned by Guangzhou Automobile Group Motor Company (GAC Motor). Trumpchi is doing very well in China, and is now poised to take on the global market.
Trumpchi has a boxy look with sleek modern lines and an engine that feels like a US or European SUV - that’s no accident.
It was designed by Zhang Fan, the head of design at GAC Motor. He returned to China after eight years with Mercedes, where he helped design some of their sleekest models. Zhang built a young, dynamic design team at GAC, and their job is an ambitious one.
“The mission for Trumpchi is to become the first internationally-renowned Chinese brand. Being a Chinese designer, my mission is to design a Chinese car for a Chinese brand. It maybe sounds a bit nationalistic, but I think there is nothing wrong with it,” he said.
That pride in the product is evident in the factory too.
Deputy general manager at GAC, Liang Weibiao, said: “We are using advanced technologies to raise efficiency. Now more working hands get freed from labor thanks to China’s efforts in pushing forward the modernization of manufacturing.”
The main workers at GAC are robots, not humans. Far from China stealing US manufacturing jobs, GAC is using automation technology to improve quality and efficiency - more cars, fewer workers. One facility has gone from producing 200 cars per shift to over 400, and the next target is to double that again.
