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Economic Watch: Made by China in America wins big stateside

Xinhua, January 25, 2017 Adjust font size:

Chinese companies in the United States are replacing their "Made in China" label with "Made by China," and are doing well out of the move, with many jobs created.

Earlier this month, railcar-maker China Railway Rolling Stock Corp (CRRC) was awarded a contract to provide 120 subway trains for Boston, following a deal in 2014 which produced 284 trains for the city. In March last year, the corporation won a 1.3 billion U.S. dollar contract to provide 846 subway trains for Chicago.

The trains will be assembled at CRRC plants in Springfield,Massachusetts and Chicago, creating hundreds of jobs.

A CRRC representative told the Caixin Magazine that the latest Boston deal is a direct result of the 2014 arrangement. Only they can produce trains that meet Boston's standards, and so the city had not re-opened bidding on the latest contract.

The rise of the CRRC in the United States has highlighted the fact that Chinese manufacturers are climbing the food chain by abandoning cheap goods and providing quality products for developed countries, building a better reputation in picky consumer markets.

The CRRC is just one Chinese manufacturer with sights set on the United States and supplying the market from workshops in North America, employing a local workforce.

Autoglass-maker Fuyao Glass has just opened a facility in Dayton, Ohio with an investment of 600 million U.S. dollars, the most a Chinese company has ever invested in the state. The plant already employs about 2,000 people and Fuyao expects this number to grow to around 2,500 by the end of 2017.

"Through my brother's eyes, I saw factory after factory close. Unemployment grew. Dayton became hollowed out," said Stephen Orlins, president of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. "But I have watched the rebirth of a community because of Fuyao Glass," he added.

Chinese investment in the U.S. outstripped U.S. investment in China for the first time in 2015, and hit a record 45.6 billion dollars in 2016, triple the amount of 2015, according to the Rhodium Group, a New York-based consultancy.

With production costs between the two countries narrowing fast, the consultancy estimated that by 2020, Chinese investment in the U.S. could reach 200 billion U.S. dollars. According to the U.S.-China Business Council, Chinese investment in the U.S. supports about 104,000 jobs there.

Stephen Orlins said that for years U.S. companies invested in China, made profits and built communities, becoming strong supporters of constructive U.S.-China relations.

"Today Chinese companies are investing billions of dollars in America. What they are doing here is building communities of Americans that will better understand China and work toward a constructive U.S.-China relation in the 21st century," he added.

China and U.S. should not resist this trend as common interests outweigh conflicts.

Wang Huiyao, director of Center for China & Globalization, said that amid China's industrial restructuring, more companies are looking overseas for their profits. However, as the anti-globalization movement develops, cross-border investment will face more uncertainty, he added. Endi