In 2007, an Everest report concluded that China would evolve as a regional sourcing hub supporting the Far East and Southeast Asia, but would lag as a support base for North America and Europe. Over the past three years, while activity within China has scaled up considerably – from both captives and third-party suppliers – this prognosis has held true.
In 2010, Everest moved China into its "mature locations" category, based on the number of established Fortune 2000 captives and Top 20 supplier delivery centers in the country. This places China among a small group of sourcing elite, alongside India and the Philippines. Tracking this trend, a recent Everest survey found that 28% of buyers planned to expand offshoring scale in China over the next two years; a significant number.
So, where does China stand now? It has matured as an offshore services destination, but still only for regional support. Over 75% of its offshore services exports are focused on Asia. China is still lacking in the capabilities required to support North American and European operations, notably: insufficient experienced project managers to interact with clients outside Asia. However, an interesting niche is developing – which could give your operations an edge: read the report.
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