Friday, January 21, 2005

Growing Industrial Might of China

China is the Factory of the world. A major chunk of every manufactured item that is being used today has the tag ‘Made in China’ on it. China has been able to manufacture almost every item at a Fraction of the cost as compared to America. The Economics of scale, favorable Government policies and low cost of labor has made China the best Wholesale supplier. China’s export of Manufactured Goods to the US is estimated to be in the region of U. S. $250 Billion in the year 2004. http://www.china-bay.org has estimated that the cumulative value of these goods when they ultimately reached the consumers in the United States is estimated to be in the region of around U. S. $800 Billion. It means that most of the Goods that we have been purchasing from retail outlets and Internet web sites have been sourced from China and retailed to us at a Substantial Mark up . For example as per http://usa-furniture. com the total American Furniture Business in the year 2003 was U. S$32 Billion on the whole sale price basis . Chinese Furniture manufacturers supply around 50% of this value . The total retailed value of the entire Furniture business however was estimated to be around U. S. $100 Billion. Http://usa-furniture. com reports that leading Carolina based Furniture companies like Broyhill Furniture, Ashley Furniture, Basset, Rhodes etc. are in the process of minimizing their manufacturing operations. They are now increasingly importing furniture from China made as per their designs and quality. They are now focusing more on, Furniture design, quality, control, setting up Furniture stores and servicing. It is a fact that trade and business with China has fuelled a retail boom in the US. Retailers and other intermediaries within the US make far more than what the actual manufacturers in China make. It has created more wealth within America than in China. Those who may harbor any resentment against Factories and outsourcing manufacturing jobs to China must pay attention to this point . China is not only an Exporter but also a growing importer of goods from the US and other countries. China has posted a trade deficit in the first half of 2004 for the first time in a decade, with imports exceeding exports by $6. 8 billion from January to June . Overall trade grew roughly 39 percent, the same as in the first half of 2003. US-China trade expanded by the largest margin in the past decade, driven mostly by a jump in exports to the US, which grew a record 36 percent. http://china-bay. org has compiled one of the largest Database of Business Establishments in China and Hong Kong. This China Business&trade Directory has more than 300, 000 Wholesale suppliers manufacturing almost all the products one can think of. These companies have also a strong appetite for raw materials, capital goods and high technology goods from the US. This China Business directory from China-source. org can serve as an importer directory as well as a good supplier lead.