【英语中国】大陆工厂纷纷加薪 台湾公司考虑搬家

The recent spate of suicides at a Shenzhen factory of Taiwanese electronics maker Hon Hai Precision Industry--which assembles Apple products--has spurred the company, its Hong Kong listed Foxconn International unit and even some of its rivals like TPV Technology to give salary increases for factory workers in China amid growing concerns about working conditions at their plants.

Such a move raises concerns that rising inflation and production costs in Shenzhen, one of China's main manufacturing hubs, could prompt global consumer electronics makers to look at other destinations such as Vietnam, India and Indonesia as well as poorer inland provinces in China itself such as Hubei and Chongqing and to choose to manufacture products there in the future.

Taiwan Electronic and Electrical Manufacturers' Association Vice President Luo Huai Jia said Monday the organization, which represents the interests of electronic manufacturers on the island, is encouraging Taiwanese electronics makers to build new facilities in cheaper Asian countries such as Vietnam, India, Indonesia and Malaysia because of rising wages in China.

In 2007, Hon Hai, which assembles iPods and iPhones for Apple, began to build a new production base in Vietnam to help mitigate rising labor costs in China. Hon Hai also has production facilities in inland China such as Wuhan in Hubei province and Langfang in Hebei province. Compal Electronics, which makes notebook PCs and other electronics for big brands like Hewlett-Packard and Dell, has already completed construction of a notebook manufacturing facility in Vietnam recently, says spokesman Chihming Chang, although mass production hasn't yet started from the facility.

Chang says more than 80% of Compal's production is conducted in China currently. Apart from the new site in Vietnam, the company only has a small plant in Brazil.

TPV, which supplies computer makers such as Dell, Sony and flat-screen TV makers Vizio and Philips, said relocating production facilities from China to cheaper locations such as Vietnam is a global trend. But for now the company is wary of relocating due to political instability and lack of skilled workers in Vietnam and Indonesia.

'Since most of our production facilities are based in China and they are close to suppliers of components, the costs of relocation would be huge,' said TPV investor manager Vijo Lee.

While 'Made in China' electronic products may still be dominant in the next few years, it wouldn't be a surprise if 'Made in Vietnam' or 'Made in Indonesia' become more prevalent with improving economic systems and infrastructure in these developing Asian countries.

代工组装苹果公司(Apple)产品的台湾电子产品制造商──鸿海精密工业股份有限公司(Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.)的深圳工厂近期发生的一系列自杀事件。在其刺激下，鸿海公司、其旗下的香港上市公司富士康(Foxconn International)乃至其竞争对手──冠捷科技有限公司(TPV Technology Ltd.)等纷纷为其在华工厂的工人加薪，以应对外界日趋强烈的对其工厂工作条件的关注。

Bloomberg News富士康深圳工厂的工人在装配线上工作此类举动引发人们担心：作为中国的主要制造业基地之一，深圳越来越高的通胀和生产成本可能会促使全球家用电子产品生产商寻找其它的地方，如越南、印度和印尼等国以及中国湖北和重庆等相对贫穷的内地省市，并选择未来在这些地方生产产品。

代表台湾电子产品制造商利益的台湾区电机电子工业同业公会(Taiwan Electronic and Electrical Manufacturers' Association)的副总干事罗怀家周一说，由于中国工资水平的提高，该组织正鼓励台湾电子产品制造商在越南、印度、印尼和马来西亚等劳工更便宜的亚洲国家建立新的工厂。

为苹果公司组装iPod和iPhone的鸿海公司自2007年开始在越南建设新的生产基地以帮助减轻中国日益增长的劳工成本。鸿海公司还在中国湖北省武汉市及河北省廊坊市等内陆地区设有工厂。为惠普(Hewlett-Packard)和戴尔(Dell)等大品牌生产笔记本电脑及其它电子产品的仁宝电脑工业股份有限公司(Compal Electronics Inc.)发言人张志明（音）说，公司已于近期在越南完成了其笔记本生产工厂的建设，但这家工厂还未开始大规模生产。

张志明说，目前仁宝公司超过80%的产品都产自中国。除越南新厂，公司仅在巴西拥有一家小型工厂。

为戴尔和索尼(Sony)等电脑制造商及Vizio和飞利浦(Philips)等平板电视制造商供货的冠捷科技有限公司说，把生产工厂从中国转移到越南等更廉价地区是一种全球性趋势。但目前公司对工厂搬迁问题比较谨慎，因为越南和印尼政局不稳，且缺乏熟练工人。

冠捷科技投资者关系经理李翠珊说，鉴于我们大多数生产工厂均在中国，且紧邻部件供应商，工厂搬迁的成本巨大。

虽然未来几年“中国制造”的电子产品或许仍将占据市场的主导地位，但随着越南和印尼等亚洲发展中国家的经济体制和基础设施得到改善，“越南制造”或“印尼制造”变得更为盛行也不足为奇。