Chinese suppliers are core to Apple's global supply chain, said Ge Yue, or Isabel Ge Mahe, the tech giant's vice president and managing director in Greater China, at the third China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) running through July 16-20 in Beijing.
Noting that this is the third time for Apple to participate in this world's first state-level expo dedicated to global supply chains, Ge said both Apple and its suppliers have benefited from the platform.
"This is the third year we participate in this supply chain expo. The event gives us a platform to demonstrate the innovations we've made together with our suppliers. Among our top 200 most important suppliers worldwide, 80 percent have production plants in China. We have also conducted a survey on the suppliers who have been present in the expo all these years, and their feedback is very positive. First, they have become reputed, which has brought them many business opportunities, with more government support. In terms of capital support, they have also obtained very good opportunities," she said in an interview with China Central Television.
For example, Sunwoda has self-developed magnetic levitation transport production line for its batteries, and Justech has developed its six-axis robotic arm APE, Ge said.
"Many local independent innovations have completely replaced some of the equipment which used to rely on import. Over these three years, I think in both smart manufacturing and green manufacturing, we have achieved very good results. All this is inseparable from our close cooperation with our supplier partners," she said.
Under the theme of Connecting the World for a Shared Future, the expo has gathered 651 enterprises and institutions from 75 countries, regions, and international organizations, with overseas exhibitors making up 35 percent of the total.
Apple VP eyes China as core in global supply chain
