Re: China as a high tech source

[Anthony <dcosta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On my way back from Tokyo my co-passenger, a marketing professional from
Seattle was returning from China after having subcontracted out work for
making pokemon games for kids.  Earlier they subcontracted to Belgium.
She noted that it was hard in part because she spoke no Chinese.   She
said that the Chinese company could put 1000 employees on the job with
little advance notice.  They are not automated for this kind of
manufacturing.  But scale of operations with lots of workers is China's
advantage.  This story is similar to the one I heard from my friend in
India many years ago.  His family has been exporting dried flowers and
soon discovered that the Chinese were taking away part of his business.
So he went to China to find out for himself.  He was shocked to the see
the scale of operations, the dormitories, where the beds are used 24 hours
a day.  He did not know how he could compete with his Chinese
counterparts.

anthony

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Anthony P. D'Costa, Professor
Comparative International Development
University of Washington
1900 Commerce Street
Tacoma, WA 98402, USA
Phone: (253) 692-4462
Fax :  (253) 692-5718
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On Sun, 11 Dec 2005, Doug Henwood wrote:

> Michael Perelman wrote:
>
> > Korea, as Alice Amsden tells the story, grew largely by indigenous
> > business, which
> > was strongly supported by the government.  China seems to be
> > following a different,
> > more capitalist path, depending more on foreign investment to
> > generate development.
>
> Foreign investors complain constantly about how hard it is to do
> business in China (if you're doing more than looking for a
> subcontractor, that is). There was a long and funny horror story in
> the FT a few months ago by an English brewer trying to do a joint
> venture there. Because their market and promise are so bright,
> foreign investors are willing to put up with it, but the Chinese have
> a strong hand. Or so it seems.
>
> Doug