Organizer: ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute

Type/Location: Virtual

Description:

Shenzhen’s engagement with Southeast Asia follows a distinct industrial logic that does not simply mirror the broader China-ASEAN trade and investment relationship. It is the hub of China’s high-tech and advanced manufacturing production network. Shenzhen’s trade with ASEAN is concentrated in mechanical, electrical and high-tech products. Its investment flows are driven less by market access or infrastructure financing than by the relocation of production, technology and supply chain capacity under intensifying US-China tech competition.

This webinar opens by examining Shenzhen’s trade, investment and supply chain relationship with ASEAN on its own terms, before turning to what this distinctive relationship looks like on the ground. The presentation then maps the current state of Shenzhen-ASEAN supply chain cooperation. Drawing on a survey and in-depth interviews with Shenzhen/Greater Bay Area firms with verified operations in Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore, the research first identifies the factors driving these firms abroad such as cost-driven spillover, domestic “involutionary” competition, supply chain following, geopolitical drivers, diversification of end markets, and access to local talent and industrial ecosystems. This is followed by a discussion on the operational challenges that these firms encounter in their host countries.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Luna Ge Lai is an Assistant Research Fellow at the Qianhai Institute of International Affairs, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen), and a Wang Gungwu Visiting Fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. Her research examines how Shenzhen and Greater Bay Area technology and advanced manufacturing firms are responding to intensifying US-China strategic competition, with a focus on their investment, production and supply-chain decisions in Malaysia, Vietnam, and Singapore.

Registration:

To attend the event virtually, please register here.