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China Works help companies across the UK and Europe manufacture original products and components in China.

Our dedicated teams in London and Shanghai offer a full range of engineering services - from initial product design, through to prototyping, production, quality control and logistics

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Green Tech Gets Government Boost

Monday, December 7th, 2009

Sceptics may argue that this was carefully timed ahead of the upcoming Copenhagen Climate Change Summit, others may argue that it shows the way forward for state-sponsored investment in green technologies – but clean-tech seems to be the buzz industry at present, not least because China’s sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corp (CIC), is splashing out HKD5.5 billion to buy a 20 per cent stake in GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd, a Hong Kong-based power plant company.

Under the deal, CIC and GCL-Poly will set up a new joint venture company to “invest and develop photovoltaic or other solar energy projects with an initial capital of USD500 million,” according to Chinese state media. Founded in 2006 and listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange in 2007, GCL-Poly, is described as the country’s largest polysilicon producer.

The move follows US President Barack Obama’s November visit to China, during which the US and China signed a joint statement to enhance cooperation on climate change, energy and the environment. Among the green manufacturing initiatives announced was the launch of the China-U.S. Electric Vehicles project, which has targeted putting “millions of electric vehicles on the roads of both countries in the years ahead.”

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Is The Chinese RMB Set For Revaluation?

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

Importers and exporters should keep a close eye on the value of the Chinese currency, the RMB, in the coming weeks. Having being effectively pegged at around RMB6.8285 to the US dollar for the duration of the global recession – in order to assist its export economy – China appears to be preparing the ground for a reassessment of the RMB’s exchange value.

State media this week reported comments from Zhang Zhijun, China’s Vice-Foreign Minister, that “the RMB rate’s flexibility may widen.” This follows a similar hint from the People’s Bank of China earlier in the month, and the publication of figures that showed October’s fall in China’s export growth occurred at its slowest year-on-year pace this year, dropping 13.8 per cent – following a 15.2 per cent decline in September.

Although it has faced down strong global pressure to revalue its currency, which many analysts believe is considerably undervalued, China seems likely to make some minor exchange rate tinkering. Adding intrigue to the equation is the fact that the 12th China-European Union Summit in Nanjing at the end of November will feature discussions between top officials from both the European and Chinese Central Banks.

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Industrial Designers Tasked With Creating More ‘China Brands’

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

The long-term post-recession recovery of China’s manufacturing industries will be heavily reliant on the diversification of industrial design, according to a leading industrial body.

Zhu Tao, President of the China Industrial Design Association, said that factory closures and job losses caused by the slowdown of global demand over the past year are continuing to hurt the nation’s production heartlands.

As China seeks to diversify its economic base, Zhu added that industrial designers must seek new levels of creativity and adaptability to help promote China-made brands. ”Without our own design, we won’t have our own brands. Without our own brands, we won’t be independent in the world. Being an OEM [country] is no way out,” Zhu told state media.

The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology notes that China is currently the world’s largest producer of “more than 200 product types, including bicycles, batteries, furniture, shoes and TV sets,” but attention this week turned towards bespoke industrial design and developing China-made brands as Beijing hosted the 2009 Icograda World Design Congress. The event, founded in 1964, has become one of the world’s most important commercial design showcases, and the Beijing edition was expected to attract “more than 1,000 designers from about 100 nations,” according to the organisers.

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Exports, Imports & Infrastructure Spending

Monday, November 16th, 2009

The headline figure shows that total Chinese exports fell another 13.8 per cent year on year in October, bringing the percentage drop to 20.5 per cent across the first 10 months of 2009 compared to the same 2008 period. Essentially, China has exported one-fifth less in total value so far this year compared to 2008. The same applies to total imports into China, which dropped 19.9 per cent.

Looking behind the main statistics proves even more informative about the current state of China’s export and import sectors. Low-value export products, such as garments (down 10.9 per cent), textiles (down 12.9 per cent) and shoes (down six per cent) have been hit hard this year. Imports for certain products used in capital and fixed asset investment, however, showed significant growth – crude oil imports are up 9.4 per cent this year, steel is up 10.3 per cent and iron ore has risen 36.8 per cent.

While state media sought a positive spin, noting that the 13.5 per cent October export slump was “the smallest decline rate since January,” it should also be noted that October 2008 was the month that global demand completely crashed along with Wall Street stocks, and the year-on-year export figures for November and December 2009 should be read in that context.

For the foreseeable future, infrastructure investment will continue to drive the Chinese economy – state-funded urban fixed-asset investment rose 33.1 per cent in the first 10 months of 2009, to a staggering RMB15.07 trillion – while state media forecasts exports will “continue on the downward trend until the first quarter next year.”

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China Works featured in Works Management magazine

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

China Works have been featured in an article on low cost sourcing in one of the UK’s largest manufacturing magazines – Works Management.

Here is a short excerpt from the feature:

“Adam Herson, Managing Director at China Works, a company that helps UK companies lower costs by moving production to China, says that althought outsourcing production to low cost countries is often criticised, the issue is far from black and white.   “In specific circumstances outsourcing can offer real benefits – improving the international competitevness of UK manufacturers and enabling new product development projects to get off the ground”

About half of China Work’s 35 strong customer base is made up of UK manufacturers looking to improve end pricing by outsourcing secondary parts and components while retaining control of technical value added processes. The other half comprises mostly smaller inventors looking to bring new ideas to market. Many new product development projects simply wouldn’t get off the ground without the option of cheaper tooling from the Far East (as low as 20% of the cost of UK tooling), insists Herson

Despite its partial perspective, China Works advises customers to maintain a global sourcing strategy – keeping the option to manufacture in the UK if economic conditions are more favourable for a given product at a given time, as they may be when the exchange rate permits. Herson add “retaining the option to manufacture in the UK also provides a fallback if outsourcing projects don’t provide the desired outcome”. Neither is every product suitable for outsourcing to a low cost country. Products that are highly automated, attract high duty, are bulky, or are high tolerance, typically generate the lowest cost saving. However projects with a high level of labout input, such as machined or fabricated parts, can pull in savings of up to 40% he reckons”

You can read more on the article at http://tinyurl.com/mvuacs

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