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I believe the only chance for EU to compete with China was to move all manufacturing to cheap post-soviet areas and build local Shenzhens there with high logist

I believe the only chance for EU to compete with China was to move all manufacturing to cheap post-soviet areas and build local Shenzhens there with high logistical integration. That ship seems to have sailed as wealth extraction was more important and now EU is falling into irrelevance globally (no meaningful GDP growth since 2008 whereas US and China's GDP exploded in the same timeframe).

malermeister 3y ago
The chance now is expansion. Western Balkans, one day Ukraine. Lots to figure out there though.
flavius29663 3y ago
I think that's what they tried to do, and partially succeeded. There is a lot of manufacturing happening in Eastern Europe. Not to the scale of China, of course, local bickering and very strong red-tape can have a dampening effect on investments.
rakoo 3y ago
GDP growth is not the indicator we should be looking at now. It is not compatible anymore with a viable planet for the years to come.
nixass 3y ago
> chance for EU to compete with China was to move all manufacturing to cheap post-soviet areas Which areas in EU (or even Europe) would that be? Baltic states hardly cheap anymore (or won't be soon), Caucasus is hot mess and -stans are nowhere near the EU as well as their neighborhood is unstable as it can be
- treprinum 3y ago
  I was talking in past tense. The chance is gone.
  - adev_ 3y ago
    > I was talking in past tense. The chance is gone I think you underestimate the evolution of salaries in China. Average salaries in Area like Shenzhen or Guangzhou are now superior to what you would get in countries like Romania, Moldavia, Ukrain, Balkans or even some Baltic countries. Even salaries in western part of China in place like Chongqin start to catch up. The reasons I believe are mainly loss of competency and political will in Europe. The UE praised itself as a model of liberalism for decades, it is hard to promote any form of protectionism after that.
    - treprinum 3y ago
      The point here is that nobody can beat Shenzhen-like logistic integration and economies of scale and EU squandered that chance, the comparative advantage it once had.

malermeister 3y ago

The chance now is expansion. Western Balkans, one day Ukraine. Lots to figure out there though.

flavius29663 3y ago

I think that's what they tried to do, and partially succeeded. There is a lot of manufacturing happening in Eastern Europe. Not to the scale of China, of course, local bickering and very strong red-tape can have a dampening effect on investments.

rakoo 3y ago

GDP growth is not the indicator we should be looking at now. It is not compatible anymore with a viable planet for the years to come.

nixass 3y ago

> chance for EU to compete with China was to move all manufacturing to cheap post-soviet areas Which areas in EU (or even Europe) would that be? Baltic states hardly cheap anymore (or won't be soon), Caucasus is hot mess and -stans are nowhere near the EU as well as their neighborhood is unstable as it can be

treprinum 3y ago
I was talking in past tense. The chance is gone.
- adev_ 3y ago
  > I was talking in past tense. The chance is gone I think you underestimate the evolution of salaries in China. Average salaries in Area like Shenzhen or Guangzhou are now superior to what you would get in countries like Romania, Moldavia, Ukrain, Balkans or even some Baltic countries. Even salaries in western part of China in place like Chongqin start to catch up. The reasons I believe are mainly loss of competency and political will in Europe. The UE praised itself as a model of liberalism for decades, it is hard to promote any form of protectionism after that.
  - treprinum 3y ago
    The point here is that nobody can beat Shenzhen-like logistic integration and economies of scale and EU squandered that chance, the comparative advantage it once had.