China Focus: Saying no to decoupling — foreign firms ready to build shared-dividend global supply chain with China

TIANJIN, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) — Amid a sluggish global economic recovery, maintaining resilient and stable industrial and supply chains is crucial for growth. Foreign firms and scholars contend that “decoupling” hampers recovery, advocating instead for a global system of industrial and supply chains that shares dividends.
At the 2024 Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Industrial Chain and Supply Chain Conference held in north China’s Tianjin Municipality, Christine Zhou, senior vice president & president of Region China, Novo Nordisk, shared the company’s three-decade journey in China. She detailed its ongoing investment in establishing and upgrading a comprehensive industrial chain that covers production, research and commercial operations.
“In the last three years alone, our new investments in Tianjin have exceeded 7 billion yuan (about 986 million U.S. dollars), significantly enhancing production capacity and supply chain resilience,” said Zhou, noting that Tianjin has become the company’s key production engine in China.
Chen Heqiang, vice president & global supply chain (China) general manager of GE Healthcare China, said his company has also focused on strengthening its supply chain in China over the past 30 years. He noted that, during this period, six medical device manufacturing bases and three innovation centers have been established in cities including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Wuxi, Chengdu and Shenzhen.
“Thanks to China’s comprehensive industrial landscape and favorable business environment, we have localized our entire product range and key components,” he said.
Many attendees at the conference recognized China’s vital role in global supply and industrial chains, saying that by leveraging China’s advantages in the supply and industrial chains and its high-standard opening up, companies will be in a better position to expand their global markets and integrate deeply into the global value chain.
China has become a global manufacturing hub and the only country in the world to have all the industrial categories listed in the United Nations industrial classification. It is also the largest producer of over 220 types of industrial products, including vehicles and computers.
In fact, many multinational companies reject the narrative of decoupling, viewing China as an opportunity rather than a risk.
The construction of the second project of the Airbus A320 Family Final Assembly Line Asia (FALA) in Tianjin is now progressing rapidly. It is expected to be completed and begin production in early 2026.
“The Tianjin FALA is key to Airbus’ global industrial strategy. Expanding with a second line will help us create greater flexibility within a fragile ecosystem to meet broader market demand worldwide,” said Juan Tubio, general manager of Airbus (Tianjin) Final Assembly Co., Ltd.
“The stable and reliable assembly line, high-quality surrounding infrastructure, and resilient supply chain have left us feeling very satisfied with the ecosystem here, as well as our Chinese partners and suppliers,” Tubio added.
China continues to enhance policy support and expand opening up by reducing the negative list for foreign investment, achieving zero restrictions on the manufacturing sector and further facilitating the creation of a safe, stable, efficient, open, and mutually beneficial global industrial and supply chain system.
Regions across the country are also encouraging foreign companies to invest in innovation and industrial chains to facilitate their smooth integration into the Chinese market.
Einar Tangen, a senior fellow of Taihe Institute and chairman of Asia Narratives, pointed out that “Countries that consistently import more than they export are the ones pushing the ‘decoupling’ or ‘derisking’, thereby adding costs for their businesses and consumers.”
“Weaponizing decoupling or derisking is simply economic Cold War in which there are no winners,” he said, adding that “The answer is to uphold a fair and free trading environment, and jointly build an open, inclusive and globally shared industrial and supply chain system that benefits all.” ■