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PCB007 interviews CPCA Sec'y General at 2001 show (Mar '01)
March 26, 2001 |Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Sec'y General of CPCA: 'foreign companies should invest now in China'The 10th CPCA (China Printed Circuit Association) show was held last week in Shanghai, People's Republic of China. The ribbon-cutting was attended by presidents and representatives of worldwide PCB associations: the IPC, EIPC, JPCA, HKPCA, and TPCA.
It is estimated that there are nearly 1,000 PCB shops in mainland China, including about 400 copper clad laminators. As many as 30-50% of them will likely disappear in the next few years, because they are too small to survive in the changing market.
After his keynote speech, Mr. Wang Long-ji, Secretary General of the CPCA, agreed to respond to a few questions about the Chinese PCB market:
(Marcello Spada, PCB007): Mr. Wang, this will be the 10th CPCA show. What expectations do you have? (Wang Long-ji): Basically, we aim to accomplish two things: one, to promote the trade between Eastern and Western countries by letting them meet together here, and two, since Chinese industry is growing fast, to offer PCB manufacturers the opportunity to learn about advanced technology offered by Western exhibitors.
Let’s talk about market trends. Taiwan is reporting 40% down from last year due to the PC industry. Since about 50% of Taiwanese PCB producers have built facilities in China, what will happen here? The worldwide market is undergoing a negative cycling phase, but China is still increasing. The main reasons are basically the huge size of this market, the steady growing demand, the favorable working and investment conditions, and the established political setting. The market demand is to satisfy applications in telecommunications, consumers for housekeeping, and personal computers, ranked in this exact order.
Does this mean that China will be focused more on internal demand than on export? Our current motto says: “Make local trade international and make international trade local.” So PCB manufacturers aim to expand their business into export as well.
It is expected that by 2005, 30-40% of the world’s cell phones will be made in China—along with the PCBs for them. Do you think that is an accurate assessment? Maybe more than that!
How do you see the European and North American market? As far as PCBs are concerned, it is not rocket science to recognize that the market has started a negative cycle and both Europe and the USA will be affected. In the long range, Europe will probably be more affected due to its higher production cost. Wages are 10 times higher than here, and products are less competitive. The market in the USA has more chances to survive because of the strong R&D activities. The USA is number one in the world as far as technology is concerned.
Environmental issues will also affect the European market, for it will add additional costs.
Is China’s government concerned about environmental protection? Yes!—we have an open mind. In China, we are as much concerned for the environment as in Western countries, although today the level of environmental conditions are different, but China will get up to speed very quickly.
What about Japan’s market? Japan is more involved in processing development than technology. Back to China: it is a fast development market, ranked today as number four in the world, in terms of capability. Where we need to concentrate in the coming years is to strongly put efforts in R&D activities. This is one of the reasons it would a good opportunity for foreign companies to invest now in China, especially in the PCB industry. We need to improve our current technology through the know-how of foreign investors, especially for the production of more advanced equipment.
Many PCB factories in China have good production capability but are still dependent on foreign supply. This is another opportunity for the investors to transfer their activity into one of the new industrial areas such Suzhou, Wuxi, Shanghai, and Kunshan, to name a few, where the road network has been developed to a high standard of reliability.
Another step we will undertake is to develop our industry knowledge and offer EMS services.
CPCA can help foreign investors greatly to set up their activity in China, by providing marketing information and advice, by supporting them to fulfil bureaucratic requirements, and—last but not least—to be a liaison to overcome language barriers.
There was just time for a snapshot and then Mr. Wang left the CPCA booth, heading to another interview. Good luck Mr. Wang Long-ji! I’m sure the future is here and you are on the right track! My wish is that our website will be a bridge to promote trade between the overseas and Chinese local markets.
Interview by Marcello Spada, PCB007