Beijing boom The wily way of the Dragon

Chinese are stopping at nothing to match American manufacturing and Mr. Trump is stopping at nothing to stop that sagacity
Watch: 'China modernizing manufacturing with Made in China 2025 initiative' | CGTN America

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Yearning for the Yuan. it is unclear how long it will take for the rest of China to follow Dongguan's example. Made in China 2025 s other goals, such as building world-class microchip industries or self-driving cars, remain out of sight for now. Photograph: Lam Yik Fei/The New York Times

Li Yuan Hong Kong, China

hina will succeed in building a powerful technology industry that will match America, even if
President Donald Trump starts a trade war to stop it. The reason can be found on the fourth floor of a nondescript factory in a city once famous for cheap manufacturing and prostitution.

This factory floor, in the southern Chinese city of Dongguan, once employed what one employee called a 'magnificent sea of people'. Rising labor costs and a new generation with little interest in toiling in factories forced a new tack. Now the sea of people is being replaced by a whirring array of boxy machines, each performing work it used to take 15 people 26 steps to finish.

The factory suggests that Beijing's vision of 'Made in China 2025' - the ambitious state-driven plan to retool

China's industries to compete in areas own futures. It comes from local govern like automation, microchips and self ments looking for ways to stay relevant. driving cars - is not being pushed just by It comes from a growing network of the Communist Party's top leaders. vote-sector entrepreneurs, academics Instead, the drive is also coming from the and local politicians who are increase bottom up: from the businesses and cit- ingly working together to overhaul its across China that know they must China's factories and its fie. Other modernize or perish.

cities — Suzhou, Wenz ou, de nou a d The Trump administration is not the industrial areas around ghai a e wrong to face Beijing over 'Made in just a few examples – har brought China 2025'. China's top-down about their own automatic 15. the approach gives its companies unfair The modernization is ver has advantages and could continue to tease pen in 2025. In fact, the ng after global trade relations long after Mr. that. But China will get a, mostly Trump retires to Mar-a-Lago.

because it has to But 'Made in China 2025'
A city of eight million is also being pushed by busi
people in the Pearl River nesses like Dongguan
Delta, Dongguan long Mentech Optical & Magnetic
depended on making and Company, the owner of the

exporting shoes, toys, and olfactory, which are worried "
tronic parts to America and about labor costs and their pack sides

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like tending to tables and deliver-city topped off by columns of rectangular fac

the ering internet business bundles - that let tory structures, in a steady progression.

At that point the 2008 monetary emergency hit.

around. A few industrial facilities moved to lower orders evaporated. Dongguan progressed toward becoming

cost nations or shut down for good. known as China's capital of prostitution

Dongguan's organizations and administer

meant needed to accomplish something. They until an administration crackdown tidied it mitted to modernizing up. Past the money related emergency, China's

Trump's duties: China's greatest concerns Driving themes tending to the US-China exchange war on Chinese web based life administration Weibo

Industry/economy

42,4%

Government guidelines

20.3%

Stock and monetary market

19,2%

Area related

8.8%

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Yuan, a China innovation reporter at The Money Road Joumal, is presently New York Times Asia tech feature writer situated in Hong Kong

Vitality and innovation

Others

1.3%