As the U.S.-China tech race heats up, neighbors like Japan and South Korea fall victim to the competition. Japan's panel industry has suffered a huge blow, and some well-known companies such as Joled have even declared bankruptcy. Teikokudatabank, a Japanese credit reference firm, pointed out that the Joled bankruptcy is the largest bankruptcy in Japan in 2023, with a debt of 33.7 billion yen. This has also made the Japanese industry realize that it is difficult for them to compete with China and the United States in the high-tech industry.
The reason why Japan and South Korea have underperformed in high-tech industries is mainly due to their lack of sufficient land and energy to support all-round industrial development. They can only invest in a few key industrial lines, and rely on the United States for high-tech technology. In terms of market, they rely on China, a huge market. Because of this situation, if there is a problem between China and the United States, Japan and South Korea will be greatly affected.
After the bankruptcy of Joled, a Japanese panel company, it chose to cooperate with a Chinese company. This change is regarded by foreign media as proof of the rise of Made in China, and it also shows the strong position of Made in China in the global market. This is undoubtedly a feudal strategy for Japan, and although they have to face the reality of bankruptcy, they can at least retain a place in a cooperative way.
Looking back at the early 90s of the last century, Japan's panel industry once occupied 94% of the global market, which can be described as booming. However, over time, the competitiveness of Japan's panel industry has gradually declined, and it has now lagged behind China, an emerging manufacturing powerhouse.
The foundation of the rise of China's manufacturing can be traced back to 2014, when China established the National Congress and began to increase investment in the industry. Especially in the panel industry, BOE, a Chinese enterprise, has carried out many years of technology accumulation and production line construction. After several years of efforts, BOE has successfully launched 9 generations of product lines and spent 300 billion yuan on research and development, making important contributions to the cultivation of China's high-end technology and talent team.
While manufacturing in China continues to make efforts, companies such as South Korea's Samsung and LG are also under tremendous pressure. This year, Chinese companies have gradually succeeded in the panel market, not only squeezing the shipments of South Korean companies, but also occupying the Chinese market step by step. Even after the bankruptcy of Japan's Joled, they chose to cooperate with China's Huike Company, which undoubtedly proves that they saw the huge potential of Chinese manufacturing and chose to rely on China to rebuild the factory as a last resort.
Similar to the panel industry, China also needs to increase its development efforts in the semiconductor industry. At present, China still needs to rely on Japan and South Korea for production equipment and raw materials in the semiconductor field. To this end, China's national congress has invested 400 billion yuan in the development of the semiconductor industry chain in the past 6 years. Just like the panel industry, Made in China is also expected to make a major breakthrough in the semiconductor industry.
As the science and technology competition between China and the United States intensifies, the status and interests of various countries are also undergoing tremendous changes. The decline of Japan and South Korea in terms of high-tech industries has undoubtedly attracted people's attention. Their over-reliance on the U.S. and Chinese markets and technologies has led to an increasingly marginalized position in the value chain.
The rise of Made in China shows China's strength and competitiveness on the global stage. Through large-scale investment and technological innovation, China has successfully made important breakthroughs in the panel and semiconductor industries. Whether it is BOE or other Chinese-funded enterprises, it has achieved great success in technology research and development, capacity construction and market expansion. This has not only accelerated the collapse of Japanese and South Korean companies, but also created more jobs and economic growth momentum for China.
However, the rise of Made in China has not been without its challenges. In the face of competition from Japan and established manufacturing countries such as South Korea, China still faces many challenges and problems. For example, the lack of technological innovation capabilities and core technologies, as well as brand recognition in the international market. These need to be addressed and improved by our continued efforts.
In short, the rise of Made in China is a long and arduous process, which requires us to pay more efforts and wisdom. However, I firmly believe that with the continuous improvement of technological progress and market mechanism, Made in China will definitely show a more dazzling light on the global stage.