Where’s the best region for us to deploy?
Conventional wisdom says that electronics firms should deploy in the big cities where there’s already a critical mass of similar business. However, wages for engineers and electronics factory workers in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, and Chongqing have risen rapidly over the past few years. For example, salaries in Shanghai rose an average of 7.7% in 2006, according to PanAsianBiz. In addition, pollution has made living conditions in those cities increasingly unattractive, especially for expatriates used to the comparative cleanliness of Silicon Valley. Fortunately, “China is a big place, and there are many regions and cities that are worth considering,” says Diana Matthias, a Shanghai-based senior consultant for Rouse & Co. International, a company that consults on international intellectual property rights. Today, electronics firms can choose from cities in several regions that were previously considered second- or third-tier. For example, Yantai, on the Shandong pe
