China's technology industry enters a new year, after experiencing unprecedented chaos in 2019, when giant technology companies appearing in the field of social media and human intelligence suffered from the onslaught of Washington - to curb the development of China - the world's No. 2 economy.
China's position as a factory for the technological world is in danger. Assemblers (mostly from Taiwan) of electronic devices for leading technology companies around the world are exploring options outside of China - to varying degrees.
From Inventec Corp to Foxconn Technology Group and Quanta Computer Inc., manufacturers of everything - from iPhones to Dell laptops - have moved production back to Taiwan, or to more remote regions across Asia, to find ways to avoid US tariffs.
The idea is that, even if the Washington and Beijing governments reach an agreement on trade, multilateral string reciprocal is essential in the long run, trade tensions are unlikely to be reduced and labor costs will evidently rise in China as the economy grows ..
Even China's leading hardware vendors recognize the risks. Luxshare Precision Industry Co. has invested in Vietnam and established a unit in India, while Goertek Inc. has begun manufacturing Apple AirPods in Vietnam.
Collectively, the collective migration speaks to the beginning of an end to the system order that has served the world's leading electronics brands since the 1980s.
Last year, Chinese technology workers adapted to the new reality. Many have accepted to work in start-up companies - hoping to make money when they go public or are acquired.
But as the chain cool off, the prospect of working long hours - 996, from 9am to 9pm, 6 days a week - loses its appeal. In March, Chinese developers on GitHub put out a list of well-known companies about getting their employees to work overtime. That post raised a clear awareness of the dramatic increase in manpower costs amid a technological explosion in China.
One thing is clear: Chinese technology, which has long been considered the only thing that can replace a world that dominates US technology, will increasingly become far away and compete directly with the United States. And some of China's biggest companies will seek to expand their influence abroad, as they have done in Africa and Southeast Asia.
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