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在线翻译:
szdaily -> In depth -> 
Importing chopsticks?
    2012-04-24  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

    WHEN Jesse Bugarin, an exhibitor at the ongoing 111th Canton Fair, heard that China imports a large amount of chopsticks from a U.S. manufacturer, he thought it was untrue.

China has a population of 1.3 billion to feed and therefore has enormous demand for the popular utensil. The country does not have enough wood to meet such a challenge.

This may explain why Georgia Chopsticks located in Americus, Georgia, a town abundant in poplar and sweet gum trees ideal for making chopsticks, has snatched a piece of cake from the huge market.

The only chopsticks manufacturer in the United States, Georgia Chopsticks produces 2 million wooden utensils per day and ships them to China, Japan and the Republic of Korea. The company has seen a huge increase in demand over the past several months, according to reports from the U.S. media.

“If U.S. manufacturers want to explore the Chinese market, they should rely on products with high production efficiency or unique resources. I think the tale of Georgia Chopsticks can be attributed to this,” said Bugarin.

As the sales director of Cannon Safe Inc., a California-based company that produces safes, Bugarin is also hoping the Canton Fair, China’s largest trade fair held in the southern city of Guangzhou, will offer a way for his company to tap the Chinese market.

Unlike Georgia Chopsticks, however, his company follows a more conventional and mainstream way of doing so — designing products in the United States and manufacturing in China.

“Though the eight new samples of safes showcased at the fair were made in the United States, most of our products targeting the Chinese market will be manufactured in Cannon’s Chinese plants,” said Bugarin.  

American chopsticks,

an imported irony

The case of China importing chopsticks from the United States, which many consider ironic, might indicate the changing landscape of China-U.S. trade, particularly against the backdrop of the U.S. move to revitalize its own manufacturing sector.

Manufacturing has become one of the U.S. industries most hailed by President Barack Obama as evidence of the country’s economic recovery.

Moreover, the U.S. Department of Labor reported earlier this month that the manufacturing sector posted some of the strongest employment gains in March, adding 37,000 jobs as the industry continues to recover from the 2008 financial crisis.

The United States hopes to win back domestic manufacturing plants that have moved to developing countries featuring plentiful and cheap labor forces, Zhang Xiangchen, director general of the Trade Policy Research Office of China’s Ministry of Commerce, said at an international market forum of the Canton Fair.

But this is unlikely to significantly influence the manufacturing systems of the world’s two biggest economies, according to Zhang.

A survey conducted by Zhang’s office showed that the investment by most American enterprises in China is stable. Only a few, mostly those involved in processing trade, are likely to withdraw capital from the Chinese market.

Take Guangdong, the country’s major manufacturing province, as an example. Thirty-five American enterprises terminated contracts with their Chinese partners, accounting for just 3.19 percent of such partnerships in Guangdong. And 14 American enterprises reduced investment in the province, representing only 3.55 percent of the total, Zhang said.

Meanwhile, a total of 120 U.S.-invested companies are currently operating in Guangdong, a year-on-year increase of 9.09 percent, with a total investment of US$618 million, Zhang added.

The survey also revealed that most of the foreign enterprises spoke highly of the competent labor force and industry support in China.

Some U.S.-funded enterprises, including Emerson Corp., a corporation specializing in motor technology, tried to transfer their production lines to other countries from China but were unsuccessful.

The rapid growth of labor costs in China has confused many foreign enterprises, said Bugarin of Cannon Safe Inc.

Owning plants in both China and the United States, Cannon Safe Inc. kept its production lines in China despite a 20-percent annual increase in labor costs, because labor costs in the United States are still much higher than those in China, Bugarin said.

New balance

in Sino-U.S. trade

After more than three decades of development, China has become the world’s second-largest economy as well as the largest exporter.

However, an over-reliance on exports, weak consumption and low-end manufacturing are becoming stumbling blocks on the nation’s path to sustainable development.

The country’s large-scale manufacturing industry is in dire need of restructuring and upgrading, Zhang said.

Focusing on high-tech areas, including biotechnology, aviation and space technology, the U.S. manufacturing industry has traditional competitive advantages and may put great pressure on China’s manufacturing transformation, Zhang said.

“Considering the workers’ craftsmanship, some high-end safes are still produced in Cannon’s U.S. plants with high-level manufacturing techniques,” said Bugarin. “The combined manufacturing patterns may continue for a while.”

Some market participants estimate that efforts to revitalize the U.S. manufacturing sector and to restructure China’s may promote a new complementary, balanced pattern between the two countries’ service industries.

The United States will play a leading role in the high-end service industry market in the long run, said Xiao Yaofei, a researcher for the International Economic Research Center of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies.

According to this year’s government work report issued by Premier Wen Jiabao in March, the Chinese Government will maintain steady growth in foreign trade and encourage more foreign investment in advanced manufacturing, new and high technologies, energy conservation, environmental protection, new service industries and the country’s central and western regions.

Under the present circumstances, China is striving to upgrade its manufacturing sector while developing its service industries, which will give Chinese enterprises more chances to cooperate with the United States, Xiao added.

As the labor cost gap between China and the United States has narrowed, Chinese enterprises are unlikely to be impacted by the possibility of investment outflow when the United States starts to transfer some manufacturing plants back to create jobs and reduce the trade deficit, Zhang said.

Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe, who is at the Canton Fair, shared Zhang’s views, saying that high-end production and transportation costs caused by surging oil prices have prompted more Chinese enterprises to consider setting up new plants in the United States.

The Chinese Government has also pledged to support companies in making overseas investments, strengthen risk management for overseas investments and protect the safety of employees and assets of Chinese enterprises operating overseas.

Beebe said his state is willing to expand cooperation with the Chinese side and he welcomes Chinese enterprises to invest in the United States so as to enhance their competitive strength and offset problems with trade barriers and tax disputes.

As the world’s top two economies, the United States and China should join hands in shouldering responsibility for the well-being of billions of people, said Beebe. (Xinhua)

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