UK engineering business IMI has said it is diversifying its supply chain away from China in response to worsening international relations.Chief executive Roy Twite said that the FTSE 250 business, which produces parts for the energy and transport sectors, will focus its China manufacturing on producing parts for domestic customers.
“Our principle on China is: China for China,” he said. “We’re investing in China for the Chinese market and making sure that if things develop in the wrong direction, in terms of geopolitics, that actually the overall business is as resilient as it can be.”
The move by IMI is the latest sign that businesses are rethinking their reliance on China as a manufacturing hub after the country’s strict Covid lockdowns and as geopolitical tensions and worries about free trade and supply chains continue to grow.