Here are some interesting or useful articles that I found recently.

The End Of Cheap China. The Next China Will Be The Post-China 16. Maybe.

Dan Harris compares two opposing analyses of where Chinese manufacturing is going:

• According to Statfor (a a geopolitical intelligence firm), low cost productions are moving to other low-labor-cost countries.
• According to Mr. Juliens from Booz & Company, China still has a large upside potential when it comes to manufacturing.

Nike, other U.S. companies, move some manufacturing out of China

This article exaggerates the relative decline of China, but predicts who the beneficiaries of China’s higher labor cost will be — namely, Mexico, Eastern Europe, Southeast & South Asia, etc.

China Factory Management – We asked Kim Pen what’s going on behind the scenes

This is a Q&A with Kim Pen, from our sister company CMC. He gives tips to evaluate a factory’s reliability within a few minutes, and explains why small buyers are often better off working with small manufacturers.

Order Control’s Unintended Results

Jacob Yount explains why micro-managing a production run is good but can lead to problems on its own — especially if done in an unstructured manner. Make sure to read the comments too.

Changes to China’s Business Registration System in March 2014

China is digitizing its company registration system and adding QR codes on business licenses. That will make buyers’ lives easier by making background checks less complicated.

REACH Compliance & Restricted Chemicals When Importing from China

The European Union’s REACH directive probably keeps quite a few people up at night. The number of products it applies to is frightening. And I see very little testing done by SMEs buying in China. This article describes clearly what buyers should do about it.