In this new era of “de-risking”, with each of the G7 group of leading wealthy nations committed to lessening their reliance on China, business leaders need to develop new ways to manage their supply chains.
At a time of escalating geopolitical tensions with China, companies have sought to reduce their exposure. In 2021, Yahoo and LinkedIn announced plans to withdraw from the country and IBM shuttered its China Research Laboratory after a quarter of a century. US foreign direct investment in the country fell from a peak of $20.9bn in 2008 to an 18-year low of $8.2bn in 2022.
This exodus of American investors signals a definitive shift in global supply chains. Many US companies are “friend-shoring”: moving supply chains to political or economic allies such as India, Thailand and Vietnam. In 2022, Dell said it would move at least 20 per cent of laptop production to Vietnam. In June, Apple announced plans to shift 18 per cent of its global iPhone production to India.