China: Higher Wages, Higher Currency, Higher Automation

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

In another case of unthought-through consequences, the cheered-on push for a stronger Chinese currency and higher wages strengthens the competitiveness and quality of Chinese products through increased automation of assembly lines.

Bloomberg reports that Nissan, together with the joint venture partner Dongfeng, is building a 5 billion yuan ($732m) plant in Guangzhou with the newest in automation. The factory is scheduled to open in 2012. In addition, Nissan spent about 1 billion yuan ($147m) on a second production line with the latest equipment at their Zhengzhou factory.

This is not an isolated incident. “The automation rate in China is on the rise,” said Nissan spokesman Mitsuru Yonekawa. “We need to boost productivity in China,” COO Toshiyuki Shiga said. “Just because labor costs are higher in China, we won’t be leaving.”

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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 4 comments
  • Robert.Walter Robert.Walter on Jun 22, 2010

    Man, oh man, today to be witness to the re-ordering of the global economy in our increasingly inter-connected world, and the attendant shifts in socities, economies, philosophies, politics and policy is at turns both exciting and frightening, but nothing short of amazing and fascinating!

  • L'avventura L'avventura on Jun 22, 2010

    This will in the mid-long term benefit Germany, Japan, and to a lesser extent the US the most being that machinery necessary for modernizing these plants for automation will come from those countries. While the final product will be made in China, the tooling will largely come from overseas. This is a boon for the Japanese robotics sector in particular, robotics sector in Japan, FANUC, on the world's largest robotics makers, for instance has jumped 16% in the past few months over Chinese labor concerns.

  • Znork Znork on Jun 22, 2010

    Excellent!

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