Manufacturing growth in China is coming from where?
June 19, 2007

1. Really? Not until 2020? A consulting group has named the date when China will surpass the United States in manufacturing output. U.S.-based Global Insights said China will top the U.S. in manufacturing by 2002. It’s global output rose to 12.1% last year and will grow to 25.9% by 2020. Some may look at that as bad news, but the real news (and something I’ve been saying for a while) is the following statement “future growth in (China) manufacturing will be increasingly diversified to meet the growing domestic demand instead. That will create opportunities for external producers.” In short, China’s developing a middle class, and that middle class will need all kinds of things we take for granted such as…

2. The world needs cell phones: Sony Ericsson will build a 200,000 square foot cell phone manufacturing facility in Beijing. The Beijing Se Putian Mobile Communications (BMC) company is looking to make China its global center for cell phone handset manufacturing. The company has exported more than 100 million cell phones already this year, and that’s up 18% over 2006

3. The world needs cereal, too: Closer to home, General Mills is expanding its facility in Belvidere, IL, investing $38 million to bring in a new frozen food production line. The move will create 10% new job growth and again points up the competitive nature of the world we live in. “In this global economy, companies have many choices for these types of significant expansion projects, but General Mills chose to invest $38 million right here in Belvidere,” said Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. “By investing in companies that are investing in Illinois, we’ve built a business climate that is encouraging innovation and creating and retaining more good jobs.” 

4. And there’s confidence in the air… The Small Business Research Board’s Manufacturing Industry Small Business Confidence Index reached 40.3% during the second quarter of 2007, up 3.3% from the first quarter. That indicates an expectation of growing revenues and increased hiring. There’s more confidence in manufacturing than in the economy as a whole. Only 36% percent said they expect the economy to improve over the next 12 months.

5. Here’s some interesting research: Our friends at NAM have created a little spot on their Website where you can look at each congressional district and find out how much manufacturing is going on in each district. Interesting data, and it also gives you the individual voting record for the district on issues of importance to the NAM. They're not terribly impartial on this front. You get a green check mark for agreeing with their position, and a red X for disagreeing. You also get a direct line to your congressman, in case you’d like to discuss trade or manufacturing incentive data. Still, it's important data to give you a comparison on the number of jobs in your region compared with others. This information is available by clicking here:

Posted by Wolseley on June 19, 2007 | Comments (2)