Global Industry Cluster Cooperation Centers
In today's global economy, globally competitive industries have largely developed into clusters. Examples include the United States' Silicon Valley (ICT), Wall Street (financial services), Hollywood (entertainment) and Detroit (automotive), Italy's Prato (wool), India's Bangalore (software) and Japan's Silicon Island in Kyushu. These areas have all become the growth powerhouse in their respective country/region's economy.
Since China started its reform and opening policy 30 years ago, the country has seen the creation of more than 500 industry clusters with sizable scale and unique specialties. Examples include Dali (aluminum profiles), Shaoxing (light textile), Wenzhou (leather shoes), Xindu (furniture), Haining (leather), Humen (garment), Shengzhou (necktie), Luoshe (piano), Yueqing (low voltage electrical appliance), Hangji (toothbrush), Wendeng (home textile), Chenghai (toy), Dongguan (electronics), Yongkang (hardware) and Changzhou (animation).
The economic output from many of these industrial clusters often reaches tens of billions, and in some case even hundreds of billions, of RMB Yuan. These vibrant and distinctive "tectonic plates" now represent the most potent force in China's economic landscape.
China is not only the most rapidly developing nation in the world, but also one where development and transformation are taking place simultaneously. To ensure that China will continue to grow healthily and steadily, it is critical to foster the development of its small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) which account for 99% of all of its enterprises. The clustering of industrial production is generally considered an effective way to promote SMEs because it can fully leverage their strength and uniqueness.
However, unprecedented challenges are confronting China's industrial clusters, with many problems awaiting solutions: a lack of planning and guidance; failure to achieve higher tiers in the industry value-add hierarchy; missing links in the overall industry value chain, a lack of indigenous brands and innovations, insufficient access to financing, and a shortage of high-end talent.
What's more, China's success in transforming and upgrading its industry clusters will lend a valuable lesson to other emerging economies in the world, especially given today's global economic adversities as a result of the ongoing financial crisis and soaring international trade disputes.
Therefore, the Global Alliance of SMEs (GASME) has decided to select ten industrial clusters that are relatively complete in terms of their respective industry value chain and that are of a large scale and solid global competitiveness, from a variety of industries such as textile, garment, leather, hardware, electronics, electric, communication equipment, automotive parts and accessories, chemicals, arts and crafts, etc. The plan is to partner with local governments where those clusters are located and jointly establish Global Industry Cluster Cooperation Base. With results-oriented collaboration in high-end consulting, FDI introduction, global market development, cluster branding, international industry cooperation, as well as international talent development and training, we hope to build these 10 selected clusters into cutting-edge "role-models" with utmost international competitiveness and industry leadership.
