How far is Chinese manufacturing currently from Europe and the United States?

Data show that in 2018, China's manufacturing output was almost as large as that of the United States, Japan and Germany combined. But in fact, whether in terms of technology or quality, China's manufacturing industry, especially high-end manufacturing, is not far from Germany, Japan and the United States. China to promote manufacturing from low-end to high-end development, there is still a long way to go.

First of all, what is high-end manufacturing? It refers to the advanced stage of industrial development, especially those with high technological content and high added value. Such as clothing, shoes and socks belong to the low-end manufacturing products, high-end manufacturing including high-end equipment manufacturing, such as large aircraft, high-speed rail, CNC machine tools, new energy vehicles, etc.; In China's manufacturing industry and even in the field of high-end manufacturing, some of the core basic parts and materials still can not be completely self-assured.

Currently, the global manufacturing competition intensified, the United States began to shout the return of manufacturing. Former U.S. President Barack Obama proposed that the United States should be "re-industrialized" to get rid of the problem of economic demoralization. After the current President Trump came to power, called for "buying American goods, employing Americans", hoping that U.S. overseas enterprises will move production lines back to local production. Some analysts say the Trump administration is targeting Chinese manufacturing, with the ultimate goal of curbing China's rise.

The biggest feature of the U.S. high-end manufacturing industry is the global monopoly in the field of chip technology. Qualcomm is a chip manufacturing expert in the field of communications, while Intel is a chip storage expert. At present, the United States is not only the global leader in the field of chips, but also the leader in the development of 5g and 6G. The reason why China can not manufacture chips like the United States is that pure silicon can not be extracted from the manufacturing technology.

In addition, Germany has always been a leading manufacturer with high manufacturing quality and good reputation. During the reign of Prime Minister Angela Merkel, Germany has withstood the trend of "de-industrialization" and nurtured the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), maintaining the position of small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises as the foundation of the German economy. In the field of high-end manufacturing, Germany also has a unique advantage. In particular, Germany's automobile manufacturing industry has left several streets behind in any country in the world.

Lastly, let's look at Japan. The myth of Japanese manufacturing has been shaken somewhat by scandals such as "Kobe Steel," but the spirit of Japanese craftsmanship is still alive and well. Japan's high-end DSLR cameras are the most popular in the high-tech field. There are Nikon and Canon in Japan and Leica in Germany. For example, in the robotics industry, Japan has five of the world's top 10 robotics giants, while China has only one. In addition, in the medical equipment industry, Japan's manufacturing industry occupies half of the market, and the United States occupies half of the market.