The Measurement of Sustainable Regional Manufacturing Industry: The Case of China

Since the introduction of Made in China 2025 and its focus on sustainable development and manufacturing industry transformation, appropriate evaluation methods to accurately assess the development of China’s manufacturing industry have become essential. Therefore, this research constructed an innovative evaluation index system for manufacturing development based on seven dimensions: innovation, structural optimization, economic benefits, efficiency enhancements, green development, international competition, and social benefits. An objective combination weighted-gray correlation-TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution) evaluation model was applied to the Sichuan Province manufacturing industry data from 2009 to 2018 to create a representative sample, in which the overall development level from 2009 to 2016 took on an inverted U-shaped curve that reached its maximum in 2013, fell to its lowest point in 2016, and then began a steady upward trend marked by innovation and efficiency improvements; however, sustainability fell. Based on these results, this research provides a scientific reference for policy-makers with recommendations for innovation-driven development strategies, green development promotion, and social benefit improvements with the aim of promoting more sustainable development of China's manufacturing industry.

Production and Consumption of Coromandel Lacquer Screens in the 17th and 18th Centuries

Coromandel lacquer screen is a Chinese folding screen made from the 17th century to 19th century in China. The screen is usually about 250cm high, 600cm width and consisting of twelve panels. Although these screens were made in China during the Qing dynasty, they received their name from India’s Coromandel coast, where they were transshipped to Europe in the late 17th and early 18th centuries by merchants of the English and Dutch East India companies. The Dutch traders carried these screens from Bantam in Java, and in early accounts they were frequently called Bantam screens as well as Coromandel screens. This paper examines Coromandel lacquer screen's art historical significance in the incising global interaction and consumer culture in the 17th and 18th centuries. It first discusses historical and cultural background of production in China which have been little known about. The primary sources focus on the record of Xiu Shi lu, the 16th century book about lacquer, and the inscriptions left on the screens. They will give information about when the screens were produced, what was the purpose of them, and the technique of decoratively incising lacquer and adding polychrome to the voids, called kuan cai in Chinese. The lacquer screen features a continuous scene run through all twelve panels, just like a hand-scroll painting with variety of colours. The prominent subjects for decoration are human figures, landscape and bird-and-flower. The narrative theme with human figures, such as Birthday Reception for General Guo Ziyi and the World of Immortals were shaped by literature or play. Also, the parallels between the lacquer screens and the paintings on the same theme are found. The scenes with Europeans are rare but bring various interpretations within the historical context of the time. The landscape themes, such as the Scenes of Lake Xihu and the Nine Bend in Mountain Wuyi, were depicted famous scenic spots in China. The composition and expression of the screens were probably inspired by landscape woodblock prints, it’s because the technique of lacquer screen and woodblock cutting are similar. Lastly, bird-and-flower theme has a long tradition of wishing longevity, happiness and peace in one’s life and produced in various medium. Thanks to the enormous progress in navigation and discovered sea roots in the 16th century, Dutch and England East India Companies imported quantities of Chinese lacquerworks in the 17th century. As Chinoiserie gain popularity all over Europe, Chinese objects were consumed in various ways. Imported Coromandel lacquer screens were incorporated into European interiors. They were cut into a number of panels, which mounted within wood paneling on walls and inserted into contemporary furniture. The lacquer screen also inspired European’s imitation of Asian lacquer known by a variety of names. This paper surveys Coromandel lacquer screen’s domestic production, exploding consumption and global conquest from the 17th century to 18th centuries, when the screen was explosively made. The lacquer screen is an active participant in cross-cultural interaction, not merely a passive commodity of china. Investigating the material culture of the lacquer screen, it was originally created in chinese domestic background concerned with social prestige, in Europe, consumed to show off exotic luxury and triggered a new stylistic changes in chinoiserie.

Thucydides Trap, Global Value Chain, and Future of China

Chapter 10 analyzes the issue of whether China would fall into the Thucydides trap, which is defined here as a situation where the US causes China to stop expanding as an economic power. Before the Trump administration, China was navigating steadily to grow beyond the middle-income trap (MIT), building its China-led global value chain (GVC) and localizing formerly imported goods into domestic production. However, it suddenly faced another trap, of Thucydides, because of the US measures for containing the further rise of China as a superpower. China will not collapse unless the US dares to wage an all-out war by taking drastic measures across various fronts of confrontation. The sudden emergence of this new trap disrupted the China-led GVC formed around Asia, which still relies on the West for key high-technology goods. Such disruption would have further repercussions on the prospect of China’s growth beyond the MIT because China must now reallocate resources away from economic competitiveness and “Made in China 2025” to socio-economic stabilization and job creation. China remains a developmental state. Its Asian neighbors have gone through their path of political democratization, but China now faces the challenge of crossing this unknown territory. This situation may be a more challenging trap compared with the MIT and the Thucydides trap. Thus, China now faces triple traps.

Make-in-India and Industry 4.0: technology readiness of select firms, barriers and socio-technical implications

PurposeIn this research, the emphasis is multifold. First objective is to study differences amongst India's Make-in-India, Germany's Industry 4.0 and China's Made-in-China 2025 on a macro level. Second objective is to identify where does individual industry segment out of the five broad segments (prioritized by Make-in-India initiative) represented by ten firms in India stand in terms of adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies. Third objective is to identify key barriers for each of these five industry segments. Finally, socio-technical interventions are also proposed aimed at faster adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies.Design/methodology/approachA mixed methodological approach is followed to achieve the research objectives. First, for the macro-level comparison of three pertinent countries, extant research and industry literature have been relied upon. Thereafter, at a micro level, inputs from experts belonging to focal sectors are included in this study to ascertain the current level of readiness of adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies and the barriers to adoption. Finally, the authors argue for and propose some socio-technical interventions that are aimed at mitigation of barriers for adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies.FindingsIt has been ascertained that amongst the ten firms (two each from given focal sectors) considered in the study, the automotive and the software firm are perhaps best placed to adopt the Industry 4.0 technology, while the infrastructure project management firm is least ready for Industry 4.0 technologies. The common barriers to adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies, as elaborated by experts belonging to each of the ten firms, are also identified. These three commons barriers are resistance to change, unclear economic benefits and problems related to coordination and collaboration.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is one of first attempts to understand the nuances related to technology readiness across focal industries pertaining to the Make-in-India initiative and Industry 4.0. The study furthers the extant understanding of common and distinct barriers across industries. Employing the soft-systems methodology, the study advocates for a number of socio-technical interventions pertaining to establishment of e-skill ecosystem, community learning clusters and sector-focussed skill acquisition and augmentation. Since the study considers only two firms corresponding to each of the five focal sectors, including more firms across industries could have resulted in further validation of study as well.Practical implicationsContrasting the initiatives of the three countries results in identification of different thematic focus of the respective initiatives. While India's Make-in-India initiative has a strong social dimension, Germany's Industry 4.0 and Made-in-China 2025 have key objective related to integration of cyber-physical systems and to graduate to innovation-driven country, respectively. Further, analysis on the technology readiness for adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies based on the respective experts' assessment results in understanding of the underlying barriers.Social implicationsAdopting the soft-systems perspective linking nuances of stakeholders, socio-technical systems and socio-economic characteristics results in several propositions to further the social objectives of India's Make-in-India initiative. These propositions advocate for pathways in which extant strengths in terms of technology, people and existing socio-technical structures can be brought together to cater to the requirements related to employability and skill augmentation of new as well as existing workforce.Originality/valueExtant research literature is primarily focussed on certain specific topics within Industry 4.0 implementation and is mainly based on conceptual or theoretical basis. From a practitioners' perspective, only a few empirical papers could be found that too are typically focussed on single case studies resulting from pilot applications of Industry 4.0. However, such papers have not examined the broad implications of Industry 4.0 in terms of differences between key countries' manufacturing initiatives, readiness of key sectors, sectoral barriers and accompanying policy-level implications associated with implementation of Industry 4.0. Thus, the objective of this research is to abridge these research gaps.

The crisis of social reproduction and 'Made-in-China' feminism

Crises of care and social reproduction have led to new debates and social movements around the world, but there has been little scholarly scrutiny in the global North on these issues as they are unfolding in China. Facing rapid population ageing and historically low birth rates, the Chinese government believes the country is suffering from a demographic crisis. Yet, the so-called population question is fundamentally a political one: who is bearing the brunt of biologically and socially reproducing the Chinese labour force who have fuelled the Chinese economy in the last four decades? As this essay unpacks, the country's long-existing urban-rural divide and the unchecked patriarchal-capitalist mode of accumulation have produced uneven consequences among different social groups, intersectionally defined by class, gender and urban/rural citizenship, and thus have exacerbated existing inequalities. Rural migrants and the urban poor, mostly women, have become domestic servants for urban middle-class families, at the cost of their own well-being and of their families and communities. Across social classes, Chinese women are making their voices heard and taking actions to protest against systemic appropriation and exploitation of their care and reproductive labour, in what is a hostile political environment. Ranging from organised protests to individuals' spontaneous complaints, 'made-in-China' feminism can shed new light on future feminist movements and solidarity building with feminists in the international community.