In recent years, the international landscape has been constantly evolving, presenting myriad challenges to the domestic environment. China's manufacturing industry is undergoing a transformation of unprecedented proportions. In this era clouded with uncertainties, practitioners seek confidence, direction, and illumination.

 

This year, Haizol has garnered increased attention, bearing a heavier sense of mission. Unlike the mutual encouragement and solidarity witnessed at last year's 7th "Misery Summit," Haizol aspires to bring a sense of certainty to everyone this year. For we deeply understand that knowing the path is more crucial than a fervent rush and that comprehension outweighs mere competence.

 

Service Abroad, Innovative Service, Collaborative Manufacturing—these were the solutions Haizol offered on December 16th at the 8th Purchasing Supply Chain Summit when faced with the burning question on everyone's mind: "Where are the opportunities?" These solutions draw from historical undercurrents and edges, experiences gained from arduous exploration in the darkness before success, China's manufacturing embedded in its "Mountain Stops River Moves," and the colossal, flexible Chinese factories behind it all. They are rooted in the determination of countless Chinese manufacturing practitioners who, even after a hundred failures, strive to win the final time.

 

Service Abroad:

 

 

 

 

History's timeline reveals astonishing similarities between many key points, offering substantial inspiration. In her opening speech, Haizol's Founder & CEO, She Ying, expounded on the cyclical nature of history, elucidating the viewpoint that "either venture abroad or face obsolescence." She highlighted that understanding the world grants a worldview. From historical timelines, it's evident that other countries, such as Japan, also underwent a "lost era of manufacturing." Their pivotal move out of predicaments and stagnation was going global, expanding through globalization.

 

Currently, "going abroad" has become a crucial strategic development for Chinese companies. Dr. Yu Ning, a partner at Weilai Capital Management and a seasoned expert in the automotive industry, presented compelling data during his speech: from January to November this year, China's automobile exports are projected to exceed 50 million, poised to surpass Japan for the first time since its establishment, becoming the world's largest automotive supplier. This marks a significant turning point in the history of China's automotive industry. Dr. Yu Ning believes that amid current international trends, aligning with leading manufacturers going abroad is a highly promising choice. He defines it as the new wave of internationalization—establishing overseas factories, agile supply, and local services. Venturing out, engaging in global competition, will open avenues for tangible industrial growth.

 

 

 

 

In the panel discussion, Gu Weidong, with over two decades of experience in foreign enterprise procurement, pointed out the irreplaceable craftsmanship spirit possessed by the Chinese, offering natural advantages in quality, cost, and efficiency. It's exceedingly challenging for businesses to find foreign suppliers as reliable as those in China. Hence, they earnestly hope Chinese suppliers establish factories overseas, providing localized services.

 

As a pioneering industrial innovation enterprise in Germany, Lenze Drive Systems has shifted some preliminary processes to Belt and Road countries. Through this process, Wang Liuying, responsible for Lenze's digital procurement, observed extensive Chinese investments and manufacturers' enduring high influence and social credibility abroad. Therefore, she actively promotes the concept of corporate globalization in China, aspiring to transform excellent domestic suppliers into global ones.

 

Zhao Yiheng, an intermediate researcher at Fudan University's China Institute with 17 years of experience in the United States, believes that China's advocacy for shared human prosperity is a viable approach to setting future directions and standards. She emphasized that this standard-setting must follow a demand-oriented model. China's supply chain is our greatest advantage; within the global supply chain, we have already secured a favorable position.

 

Professor Zhou Qijiao, Managing Partner at Jinsha River United Capital, highlighted in the panel that traditional foreign trade accounted for a staggering 94% in 2022. This indicates immense opportunities for us to achieve foreign trade transformation and upgrades through diversified trade formats, the internet, and technological innovations. To assist more suppliers in venturing abroad, Haizol has been making numerous attempts at the product level. For instance, the Haizol platform is soon launching a multilingual version encompassing more languages. Next year, Haizol will progressively introduce a suite of tools to assist Chinese suppliers in navigating the complex issues encountered during their overseas endeavors, including logistics, legal, customs clearance, and more.

 

 

 

In the present globalized market environment, what are the significant trends?

 

Innovative Services:

 

In the 2023 Chinese media's word cloud analysis of various articles, "technological innovation" emerged as a high-frequency keyword. She Ying's speech revealed that among Haizol's extensive factory data backstage, many thriving factories belong to the service innovation industry. Haizol has persistently strived to explore and expand connections with innovative industry buyers. Daily, the backend teems with a plethora of high-margin orders from domestic and international innovative industries and research institutions.

 

Factories need to contemplate "for whom they manufacture." For Huang Xinfeng, Procurement Director at Miaosi Medical Technology, when deciding "for whom to work," he adheres to certain principles: selecting forward-looking industries that align with future development and choosing high-end companies within these industries. These companies display strong development momentum and are more likely to receive support from national policies and investor favor.

 

Taking the automotive industry as an example, currently, the market share of new energy vehicles continues to rise and is expected to surpass 35% in 2023. The electrification and intelligence of automobiles usher in a new era, backed by massive R&D investments and promising opportunities. Dr. Yu Ning shared in his speech an incident from his purchasing days where a supplier's owner, in pursuit of an innovation trend, hired over a hundred doctors for research and development, ultimately securing a 2 billion order from Geely.

 

 

 

As a guest at the roundtable, Zhongshen Machinery's General Manager, Shianguo, had a similar experience. However, he employed a group of college students with cultivated technical skills from their freshman year. Within four years, Shianguo soared from zero to a turnover of 40 million. His success underscores the crucial role of technical and design capabilities in service innovation. During her speech at Haizol's event, Zhang Xuning, Digital Supply Chain Director at Haizol Online, highlighted a case where a small team of three to five individuals proactively optimized blueprints through technical abilities, securing multimillion-dollar orders from global leading semiconductor industries.

 

Another guest at the roundtable, Zhang Qian from Guangdong Hunter Valley Precision Casting Technology, mentioned that before establishing the world's first fully automated precision casting intelligent production line domestically and abroad, their enterprise already had a substantial number of orders, living comfortably. However, they invested all their funds into automation and intelligence transformation, aiming to seize future opportunities and challenges, creating higher value.

 

"If you don't live in the future now, your future will reside in the past." This was the sentiment gleaned by Jin Yong, Regional Director of Global Value Procurement for Siemens AG Asia-Pacific, after interviewing nearly a hundred companies. He encountered a 200-year-old enterprise that weathered numerous economic crises and era transitions and continues striving for innovation today. He highlighted that in the wave of globalization, innovation has become the answer to establishing core competitiveness.

 

 

 

Fengda, Global Wind Power Product Director at Pioneer Technology Company, shared similar sentiments. Their company has attained a certain degree of leadership and market share in overseas markets in recent years, attributing this success primarily to innovation. Fengda believes innovation is the most crucial factor. As long as continual innovation accumulates certain technological advantages in the industry, naturally, it can gain an edge in venturing abroad. Wang Liuying emphasized in subsequent discussions that to expand globally, one should consider leveraging innovation and utilizing "manufacturing capabilities + digitalization."

 

Collaborative Manufacturing:

 

Presently, innovation stands as the core driver propelling global economic growth and industry transformations. Growth rates of innovative enterprises worldwide are accelerating. As She Ying mentioned, China has transitioned from large-scale production to an era of extensive customization. Now, factories should "seek capabilities from peers" and practice collaborative manufacturing. By linking upstream and downstream processes and procedures, factories can provide buyers with one-stop services, significantly reducing product costs and aiding factories in keeping pace with global and technological trends while serving abroad and innovating services.

 

Zhang Kaipeng, Senior Vice President and China Regional Head of Global Supply Chain at Schneider Electric, mentioned in his speech that over the past three years, Schneider Electric, as a company with a profound historical background and global influence, has placed higher demands on the resilience and digitization of its supply chain. Resilience isn't just confined within the company; suppliers need to bolster their resilience in tandem. Future supply chains will become increasingly shorter, and collaborative manufacturing can assist suppliers in enhancing competitiveness.

 

 

 

In the panel discussion, many guests noted their shift from focusing solely on manufacturing capabilities to emphasizing collaboration and resource integration. "You need to integrate local resources, third-party resources, expand your supply chain, and provide higher value-added services; these are the crucial new considerations when choosing suppliers," remarked Gu Weidong.

 

Those Unconquerable in the Tides of Time:

 

At this summit, guests provided extensive contemplations on the future direction of China's manufacturing practitioners. Discussing the current situation, they unanimously expressed confidence in China's manufacturing and its future. The reasons behind their confidence can be gleaned from the factory owners who graced the stage.

 

The final roundtable session at the conference brought tears and inspiration to numerous attendees with two images. They depicted Xue Qing, General Manager of Xinqi Automotive Parts Co., Ltd., inscribing motivating words during his darkest moments. Formerly the owner of a factory with a turnover of 300 million, he faced betrayal at the peak and lost all assets overnight. Yet, he didn't give up; now, with a second-hand machine, he has once again created a turnover of tens of millions.

 

 

Meanwhile, Xu Binbin, General Manager of Zhuoli Metal Products Co., Ltd. in Cixi City, bore the envious title of "Second-Generation Factory Owner." However, what he inherited was a traditional and antiquated establishment. Amidst uncertainty about the future, he struggled, missed numerous opportunities, and saw his turnover plummet by 70%. Yet, he didn't give up; instead, he actively sought change, expanded his horizons, and within a mere three years, escalated turnover from three million to thirty million.

 

In the face of industry decline and vanishing orders, Zhou Ruiqin, General Manager of Hubei Ruixincheng Machinery Manufacturing Co., Ltd., persisted in the frontlines of manufacturing in the central and western regions. He not only endeavored to break free from conventional thinking through learning but also achieved industry leaps, securing numerous overseas orders while actively contributing to the local government's livelihood projects.

 

Through these guests' stories, we witness reflections of China's manufacturing industry's indomitable spirit, the determination to seek opportunities amidst adversity, and continuous self-renewal. They epitomize countless Chinese manufacturing practitioners—a source of confidence and strength for China's manufacturing and a guarantee for a hopeful and confident future.

 

She Ying shared an interesting statistic in her speech—amidst increasingly tense international trends and domestic environments, the Chinese work ethic index in 2023 is higher than it was in 2019. While preparing for Haizol's event, countless guests were interviewed, hearing various stories that deeply resonated with the resilient, diligent, and persistent traits of the Chinese people.

 

 

It's the relentless spirit of generation after generation of Chinese manufacturing individuals that has shaped today's glorious Chinese manufacturing. The radiance of Chinese manufacturing endures and will continue to shine. Faced with the multifaceted challenges of the current situation, we should believe that difficulties are opportunities. By riding the trends—service abroad, innovative service, collaborative manufacturing—we can collectively journey towards a promising future amidst the wind-filled fields.