Friday, October 17, 2025

Western Executives Shaken After Visiting China

Western automotive and green energy executives who visit China are returning humbled -- and even terrified.

Posted by LampLighter at 10:32 PM | 13 COMMENTS | permalink

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On 27 October we launch our new Autumn Lecture series in New York with Adam Tooze. China is racing ahead in electrification, while the US turns its back on green energy in favour of fossil fuel machismo. How will these geopolitical dynamics play out? Book now: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/nyc-lectur ...

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-- London Review of Books (@lrb.co.uk) Oct 9, 2025 at 3:59 PM

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More from the article ...

... Some companies are giving up on new initiatives altogether, with the founder of mining company Fortescue, Andrew Forrest, claiming that his recent trip to China led to him abandoning attempts to produce EV powertrains in-house.

"There are no people " everything is robotic," he told The Telegraph.

Other executives recalled touring "dark factories" that don't even need to keep the lights on, as most work is being done around the clock by robots.

"You get this sense of a change, where China's competitiveness has gone from being about government subsidies and low wages to a tremendous number of highly skilled, educated engineers who are innovating like mad," British energy supplier Octopus CEO Greg Jackson told the newspaper.

According to recent figures by the International Federation of Robotics, China has deployed orders of magnitude more industrial robots than Germany, the US, and the UK.

And it's not just a desire to keep margins low through the automation of human labor.

"China has quite a notable demographic problem but its manufacturing is, generally, quite labor-intensive," Bismarck Analysis analyst Rian Whitton told The Telegraph. "So in a pre-emptive fashion, they want to automate it as much as possible, not because they expect they'll be able to get higher margins -- that is usually the idea in the West -- but to compensate for this population decline and to get a competitive advantage." ...


#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-10-16 08:04 PM

I guess my first question might be along the lines of ...

How will Pres Trump's current stated policy of bringing manufacturing jobs back to the US resolve this apparent long-term problem for American workers?

#2 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-10-16 08:34 PM

Well, it's not going to.

#3 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2025-10-16 09:01 PM

@#3 ... Well, it's not going to. ...

I do not disagree.

Are corporations making factory investments for the next decades going to look more towards industrial robots or human workers?


And, fwiw, I often drive past the original site of Unimation (at 23 Shelter Rock Lane in Danbury, CT) the original factory robot company.

Unimation
en.wikipedia.org

... Unimation was the world's first robotics company. It was founded in 1962 by Joseph F. Engelberger and George Devol and was located in Danbury, Connecticut.[1] Devol had already applied for a patent an industrial robotic arm in 1954; U.S. patent 2,988,237 was issued in 1961.[2][3][4] ...

Then there's this ...

Firms make old buildings suit needs of new users (2004)
www.newstimes.com

... In Danbury, the Rodenstock building on Kenosia Avenue, the former Unimation factory on Shelter Rock Lane and the former Davis Geck factory on Casper Street have been overhauled.

"They're recycling buildings in Danbury for a number of reasons. The location is good, and there isn't an abundance of industrial or commercial land available. The buildings are already zoned for commercial or industrial uses," said Stephen Bull, president of the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce. ...



#4 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-10-16 09:40 PM

They're already sunk.

I posted a thread a while back about how South Korea can build a ship and know the delivery date, and the US Navy was in awe.

But as usual it was while Biden was in office and Lumpers like Gaslighter said nothing trying to defend Biden, now you care.

You aren't an American, you're party first, America last.

Its sad, try to educate you guys, but you never listen.

#5 | Posted by oneironaut at 2025-10-16 10:53 PM

@#5

Do try harder.

#6 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-10-16 11:04 PM

@#5

Jimmy Eat World - The Middle (Acoustic Version) (2001)
www.youtube.com

genius.com

...
[Verse 1]
Hey, don't write yourself off yet
It's only in your head, you feel left out or looked down on
Just try your best, try everything you can
And don't you worry what they tell themselves when you're away

[Chorus]
It just takes some time
Little girl, you're in the middle of the ride
Everything, everything will be just fine
Everything, everything will be alright, all right

[Verse 2]
Hey, you know they're all the same
You know you're doin' better on your own (On your own), so don't buy in
Live right now, yeah, just be yourself
It doesn't matter if it's good enough (Good enough) for someone else

[Chorus]
It just takes some time
Little girl, you're in the middle of the ride
Everything, everything will be just fine
Everything, everything will be all right, all right
It just takes some time
Little girl, you're in the middle of the ride
Everything, everything will be just fine
Everything, everything will be all right, all right
...



                                    :)


#7 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-10-16 11:18 PM

Don't worry....pedo47 is making coal great again....for the owners of the mines....not the actual workers...f**k them.

Pedo 47 lets the Heritage foundation write his policies. Heritage gets it's funding from fossil fuels. That is why oil and gas subsidies continue while renewable energy subsidies were killed by the big bulls**t bill.

#8 | Posted by Nixon at 2025-10-17 08:01 AM

The US has issues with power plants. Data centers are taking and will take more power. China had already taken steps.

Its great having laws to protect. It is also a hindrance to power plant creation.

Sooner or later,a choice must be made.

#9 | Posted by Petrous at 2025-10-17 09:27 AM

Ford is such a price gouger on parts it disgusts me as a tradesmen.14 dollars for 2- 6mm x 19mm grade 5 zinc plated bolts.Grade 8 cad plated are 30 cents a piece at hardware store.Ford can't pay more than a dime a bolt wholesale ,if that, since they use billions a year.

#10 | Posted by Scotty at 2025-10-17 10:22 AM

The US has issues with power plants. Data centers are taking and will take more power. China had already taken steps

#9 | Posted by Petrous at 2025-10-17 09:27 AM | Reply | Flag:

I'm sure their weak environmental laws helps them a lot.

#11 | Posted by lfthndthrds at 2025-10-17 05:18 PM

What do we expect when protectionism meant to prop up profit margins because all decisions are centered around maximizing share holder value every quarter is the name of the game?

Despite all the blathering about innovation and creativity, domestic companies don't do much of either and what they do do is usually pretty superficial at best.

I watched a YouTube video a while back where an economics professor broke down why Teslas dominate in the US and why they're so pricy.

It basically boiled down to the maintenance of a false market propping up demand and prices relative to Chinese produced EVs that are superior and cheaper.

#12 | Posted by jpw at 2025-10-17 06:01 PM

I am old, same age as Trump, but unlike Trump I care about America and its future, both as a democracy, and as a home for the many who are at the bottom of the income pyramid.
I have given up that in the few years left to me I will see a government at the national level that is dedicated to reason and kindness and health for all. We are dominated by a Republican Party aching, just aching, to take from the poor to the give to the rich. When the core of today's Republican Party is full on racist misogynistic bullies, little will be done.

#13 | Posted by Hughmass at 2025-10-18 07:51 AM

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