China Focus: Chinese manufacturers brace for trade tensions

Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-05 22:54:17|Editor: Yamei
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GUANGZHOU, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese manufacturers are in close communication with their U.S. clients amid simmering trade tensions.

The U.S. administration has proposed additional tariffs on imports from China worth some 50 billion U.S. dollars. Aerospace, information and telecommunication technology, robots and machinery are among the involved sectors, where the interests of Chinese and American companies are tightly intertwined.

Hongrita, based in south China's Guangdong Province, manufactures precision components. The company is developing a mold for American clients.

"We're still in the developmental stage. Now things are getting uncertain," Liang Bingran, the company human resources manager told Xinhua. "It will be unfortunate for both sides."

The business communities in China and the United States have been working together for decades. American enterprises will not be spared, if their Chinese partners are hit.

Dongguan Excel designs, develops and manufactures home electrical appliances, such as air purifiers and humidifiers with its American partner.

"The Americans are in charge of conception and plan drafting, while we go fifty-fifty in mold developing," said company chairman Wu Wentian, adding that 80 percent of the products are for the American market.

"Both companies will be in trouble, if our cooperation is terminated." Wu said. "My client is no less anxious than I am and we're sending each other endless emails, discussing what to do."

The priority for many Chinese manufacturers is to explore other markets, including the domestic one.

Industrial scaler and smart device provider Senssun Weighing Apparatus, also known as CAMRY, is seeking sales agents in Europe, and has planned market expansion in Belt and Road countries, said its president Wang Xianche.

"Our sales in the markets along the Belt and Road are increasing and we see great potential in the domestic market," Wang said. "This might be a good opportunity for us to expand."

Some Chinese enterprises have even shrugged off the tension, by virtue of their R&D and production capacity.

Idear-Hanyu in Jiangmen City of Guangdong makes 35 percent of the world's water pumps for home appliances. The company was granted a superior quality performance award by GE Appliances in 2016, for zero quality defects in the millions of pumps they sell.

"Only three suppliers in the world are at this level," said chairman Shi Huashan.

"We definitely don't want a trade war. Fair and reasonable rules benefit all market players. But we are confident that no one can take our place, even under unfair conditions," Shi said.

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