China is making it difficult for employees and specialized equipment needed for high-tech manufacturing in India and Southeast Asia to leave its borders, officials said, in an effort to prevent companies from relocating production in anticipation of U.S. tariff increases. There is a possibility that President-elect Donald Trump.
Authorities in Beijing have verbally encouraged regulators and local governments to curb technology transfers and equipment exports to the region, one of the people said, asking not to be named because the discussions are private. That’s what it means. The aim is to ramp up China’s own production, cut potential layoffs and prevent foreign investors from leaving the country if the U.S. imposes new trade barriers, officials said. said.
Foxconn, Apple’s main assembly partner, has not been able to send Chinese staff to India, and its Indian factories have not been able to receive additional specialized machinery from China, some of the people said. However, there is no immediate impact on production.
China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday that China “treats all countries equally and welcomes businesses from everywhere.” “China has never done anything that would harm itself or undermine the interests of other countries,” the statement said. India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Foxconn did not respond to requests for comment.
India is crucial to Apple’s strategy to reduce its dependence on China, as trade tensions between the US and China are likely to escalate with the return of President Donald Trump next week. Foxconn’s Chennai assembly plant accounts for about half of the country’s iPhone exports, but the company still makes the majority of Apple devices in central China.
The Chinese government does not want Foxconn to further diversify production into other regions, one of the people said. Foxconn employs hundreds of thousands of workers at its factories in China, and its large operations are key to the local electronics supply chain and jobs.
Other world newspapers and Nikkei Asia had previously reported on China’s restrictions. Woods Chen, chief economist at Yuanta Securities in Taipei, said the trend of foreign companies moving out of China had already begun several years before the Trump administration’s first term, but the exodus will intensify and there will be more. He said that could include technology companies.
Restrictions on high-tech equipment are also impacting the production of electric vehicles and solar panels in India, the people said, with the Indian arm of Chinese EV maker BYD and India’s largest solar panel maker Warli.・Energies is said to have been affected.
BYD’s public relations staff and Waaree did not immediately respond to messages seeking further information. Bloomberg has previously reported that the Chinese government wants to limit the transfer of advanced technology for EV manufacturing, and officials told automakers at a meeting last July not to make auto-related investments in India. It was reported that it was reported. The officials said New Delhi was aware of China’s restrictions on high-tech equipment but believed it was not intended to single out India, and asked not to be named because the discussions are private.
The two countries have recently eased the four-year border standoff and are taking gradual steps towards normalizing relations. However, India still severely restricts Chinese inward investment and restricts visas for Chinese nationals, including engineers and skilled workers employed in high-tech manufacturing.
Apple’s China-based equipment partners, including Justec Shenzhen and Bozhong Precision, began receiving inquiries from government officials about why they were sending equipment to India starting in 2024, one of the people said. bloomberg
