As the ‘world factory’, China occupies a pivotal position in the global electronic parts manufacturing field. From basic electronic components to sophisticated smart wearable devices, Chinese factories have built competitive advantages that are difficult to replicate by virtue of the complete industrial chain, economies of scale and technological innovation capabilities.
After decades of development, China’s electronic parts manufacturing industry has formed the world’s most complete industrial ecosystem, and has become the core force supporting the global electronics supply chain. From simple resistors and capacitors to complex integrated circuits, from traditional mechanical switches to intelligent induction devices, Chinese factories cover almost all categories of electronic parts.
The geographical distribution of China’s electronic parts manufacturing industry shows obvious clustering characteristics. The Pearl River Delta region is strong in consumer electronic parts, the Yangtze River Delta focuses on high-end electronic components and integrated circuits, and the Bohai Rim has an advantage in industrial electronic parts. This regional specialised division of labour has greatly improved industrial efficiency and reduced logistics and collaboration costs. Taking the smartphone industry chain as an example, from circuit boards in Shenzhen, chargers in Dongguan to sensors in Suzhou, China is able to complete the procurement and assembly of more than 90 per cent of the parts of a smartphone within a 500-kilometre radius, an industrial cluster effect that is difficult for other countries to achieve4.
Industry Chain Integrity and Supply Chain Efficiency
China’s electronic parts manufacturing industry has the most complete industrial chain layout in the world, and this advantage is the core competitiveness formed after decades of accumulation. From basic electronic components such as resistors, capacitors, and inductors, to complex functional modules such as integrated circuits and sensors, to the assembly of finished products, China has the production capacity of almost the entire chain of the electronics industry.4 This completeness is not only embodied in the product range, but also in the synergistic cooperation of the various links in the industry chain – raw material suppliers, component manufacturers, foundries, and logistics companies form an efficiently operating ecosystem.
Quality control and production standards
The quality control system of China’s electronic parts manufacturing industry has reached the international advanced level, which is an important symbol of industrial upgrading. Leading enterprises have generally established a complete ISO quality management system, implementing strict quality control at every stage from the entry of raw materials to the shipment of finished products. In the circuit board processing industry, manufacturers require from the procurement of raw materials to production to the factory are strictly controlled to ensure that the quality of production to meet industry standards.
The wide application of testing technology and equipment ensures the consistency of product quality. China’s electronic parts factories have invested heavily in advanced testing equipment, such as AOI (Automatic Optical Inspection) equipment can automatically identify PCB board soldering defects and circuit problems; flying probe tester can be a high-density circuit board for accurate electrical performance testing; X-ray inspection equipment is used to check the quality of the BGA package and other invisible solder joints.
Customisation and Rapid Response
The customisation capability of China’s electronic parts manufacturing industry has become a core competitive advantage that differentiates it from other manufacturing bases. Unlike traditional large-scale standardised production, Chinese factories are able to flexibly adjust their production lines to meet the individual needs of their customers, and PCB manufacturers are able to provide one-stop services according to the different needs of their customers, such as different sizes, number of layers, different materials, different processes, and so on. The scope of this customisation service ranges from product appearance, functional configuration to packaging design, covering almost all customisable dimensions of electronic accessories, which is particularly suitable for innovative products and small batch trial production needs.
