
Chinese manufacturers turn inward - jonbaer
https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/06/03/1002573/pandemic-us-china-trade-war-impact-on-manufacturers/
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simonblack
Why put the future of your livelihood on the whims of those weird foreigners,
when you can supply the much larger local markets and have a better idea what
local long-term demand will be like?

The whole of the West (5 eyes plus Europe) is a smaller market than just
China.

I know which market I'd be choosing if I was Chinese.

~~~
mytailorisrich
Leaving the current situation aside, it has long been the view of many
economists that the Chinese economy was imbalanced and too export-oriented,
and that the next step of its development ought to be to develop domestic
consumption.

Like you say, that also has the nice benefit of potentially providing a huge
cushion for Chinese companies, and that's already somewhat the case. Cynically
I'd say that's also partly why the US is trying to cut Huawei's supply chain:
Banning them from the US will not hurt them that much, but cutting off their
supply chain will.

~~~
simonblack
Many Americans say "Who will buy from the Chinese if the US doesn't? We have
them over a barrel."

That's a fallacy. The whole of the foreign export market is only about 20% of
the Chinese economy.
[https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.EXP.GNFS.ZS?location...](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.EXP.GNFS.ZS?locations=CN)

The US only makes up about 20% of those exports. So, in fact, the US purchases
make up merely (20% of 20%) or roughly 4% of the Chinese economy.

China could easily lose all of that without damage. Its GDP generally grows
4-6% per year. It might be slightly painful, but other growth in the economy
would replace those losses within roughly 12-18 months.

