Cina e Italia: Competitività e Investimenti in due Realtà Interconnesse

For many years, China has been seen as the workshop of the world. Arguably, it is the most convenient place to produce components, as well as end products, due to its low labor cost, huge pool of skilled workers, and its well-developed infrastructures. China has therefore been associated with the phenomena of outsourcing and offshoring. Today, however, the situation is different, mostly because labor cost is rising and the competitiveness that once distinguished the country is slowly diminishing. This research is divided into two parts. The first part of the research revolves around a sample of fourteen Italian companies that operate manufacturing plants in China, It aims to find out whether or not China's manufacturing sector is less competitive than before, what factors are affecting it and whether China is going to keep its leading position or fall behind more competitive low-production-cost countries. The Chinese market is expanding simultaneously with the growing middle class, resulting in more and more people purchasing goods, on the one hand, and in the increase of demand for more sophisticated products on the other hand. The three most significant and noteworthy transformations that the country has been going through are: 1) China moving from production-hub into a new market for selling products; 2) China transforming its factories from labor-intensive production to high-tech production; 3) China shifting from the ¿Made in China¿ label present everywhere to the creation of its own branding (¿Made by China¿ or ¿Designed by China¿). The Chinese rising middle class, the increased demand of more sophisticated products, high-tech production, and expanding domestic market are all factors that allow us to think of China as a country more and more connected with the Western world. Indeed, if once Italy was interested in outsourcing and offshoring to China to get advantage of what China could offer, now it is China that seems to be interested in Italy, and the means through which it shows this interest is investments. After going in-depth into the "Italy-in-China reality" of the first part of the research, the second part of the research revolves around "China-in-Italy reality". In particular, I will take into account the controversial issue of Chinese investments in Italy. Are they a benefit or a threat for the Italian economy? How do they affect the Italian economic system and which are the implications and transformations that they impose on both the Italian and the Chinese lifestyle and consuming patterns? These and other questions will be answered. These two parts of the research have a common denominator: the Italian perception of China, Chinese people, and Chinese products over the years. After analyzing some data showing Italian negative feeling towards China, in this thesis I aim at understanding whether the negative attitude characterizing Italian people has been evolving and softening. The innovation of my research consists in investigating and understanding what the current phenomena and transformations related to the Chinese manufacturing sector are, and to what extent they are affecting the sector itself and the kind of China we have known so far. In addition, the research also aims at understanding the value and the impact of Chinese investments in Italy and the possible transformations, in terms of fruitful collaboration and profound synergy, which will occur between Italy and China in the next future.