Abstract
Utilizing diverse qualitative and quantitative evidence from two advanced manufacturing sectors, industrial robots and high-tech medical devices, this chapter identifies the upgrading trends of Chinese domestic firms from a global value chain (GVC) perspective, discusses the driving forces behind these trends, and provides a detailed look at national and local policies supporting these upgrading efforts. We find that Chinese firms are relatively weak in the global markets of the two sectors but have built competitiveness in the domestic market. Key determinants for the upgrading of local firms include both internal factors such as a very large domestic market, national guidance by the central government, policy support by local governments, innovation on key components and innovative products, as well as external factors such as global markets, foreign direct investment, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the global policy environment. These factors are likely to continue pushing upgrading in the coming years. The commonalities and differences related to upgrading in the industrial robot and high-tech medical device sectors are discussed. We highlight implications of our analysis for China’s future upgrading in advanced manufacturing GVCs.
Keywords
- Global value chains
- Industrial robots
- High-tech medical devices
- Upgrading
- China’s national plans
- Local government policies
- COVID-19 pandemic
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. [The Third Plant of Yaskawa (China) Robotics Co., Ltd. was Completed]”. 
[With a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 15.6%, How Does China’s Medical MRI Break Through the High-end Market?]”. 
[In the First Half of 2020 the Number of National Medical Device Patents was Released]”. 
[Medical Devices Worth More than 5 Million RMB are Dominated by Foreign Companies, What are the Differences between Chinese and Foreign Companies in High-End Manufacturing]”. 
[Product Family]”. 
[Industry Insights! An Article Details the Market Size, Competitive Landscape, and Development Trend of China’s Industrial Robot Industry in 2021]”. 
[Comprehensive Analysis of the Robot Industry: System Integration, 100 Billion Market, Three Major Models!]”. 
[In the Next Five Years, with Market Demand of 28,000 Units, How Will China’s CT Market Be Distributed?]”. 
[Forecast 2019: Panorama of China’s Industrial Robot Industry (Status, Pattern and Trend)]”. Acknowledgements
Jing Zhao acknowledges the support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 71903028).
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Zhao, J., Gereffi, G. (2022). Upgrading of Chinese Domestic Firms in Advanced Manufacturing: Evidence from Industrial Robots and High-Tech Medical Devices. In: Gereffi, G., Bamber, P., Fernandez-Stark, K. (eds) China’s New Development Strategies. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3008-9_8
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