Why Chinese Manufacturing Wins

While Wendover Productions retained creative control over the video itself, the sponsor paid for travel expenses and for the post-roll advertisement.

Check out my podcast with Brian from Real Engineering:

Deng Xiaping footage courtesy Reagan Library
Singapore historic photo courtesy Hiramatsu Kaxuhito
Chinese bar photo courtesy Roman Boed

Big thanks to Patreon supporters: Kevin Song,
Kevin Song, David Cichowski, Andy Tran, Victor Zimmer, Paul Jihoon Choi, Dylan Benson, M van Kasbergen, Etienne Dechamps, Adil Abdulla, Arunabh Chattopadhyay, Ieng Chi Hin, Ken Rutabana, John Johnston, Connor J Smith, Rob Harvey, Arkadiy Kulev, Hagai Bloch Gadot, Aitan Magence, Eyal Matsliah, Sihien Goh, Joseph Bull, Marcelo Alves Vieira, Hank Green, Plinio Correa, Brady Bellini

[Wendoverproductions]

I hope you enjoy this video!

There's a bit of a unique situation in this video where the sponsor is partially the subject of the video as well. This is because they were able to give me a level of access that normally would not have been possible (Chinese factories are not easy to film in.) I want to stress that I did have creative control over the video but take my presentation with a grain of salt nonetheless. I visited a well-regarded, ethical factory which isn't necessarily a reflection of all factories in China, as you may know. I also didn't cover some of the issues with manufacturing in China and other less-developed countries since I was taking a more holistic, economic view rather than a person view.

[skyechen]

"China doesn't charge taxes on exports, and USA doesn't charge taxes on imports"
That didn't age well

[enirjpy]

What's fascinating is that Shenzhen grew from being three times smaller than my town to being three times larger, by population, than my whole country!

[gaiusbc]

dang it, was watching 11 minute advertisement for some Chinese batteries, and realized it's an ad only at the end. well played

[reidmock]

I know he's sponsored, but Anker batteries are actually really good, which is truly something considering how cheap they are

[dragondescendant]

When I was little kid growing up in Hong Kong, Shenzhen was nothing but a piece of dessert, farmland, I can't believe it has grown the way it is.

[AmbivalentMind]

"The US doesn't charge taxes on imports." Boi, this video hasn't aged well.

[KeefeL]

My father moved his business to SZ from HK in 2005, and watching it change has been surreal to say the least

[gordon]

Now I finally know why the currency difference are so huge between China and the west. I'm from HK and our current is even a little cheaper than Chinese ones. It made spending money students like me and my friends who study abroad a consistent losing bargain . Imagine paying 3 hours worth of minimum wage from home just to get a meal where you're studying.

[chrischen]

When your life is getting better, your neighbors will start to hate you.

[flashstar]

China: Exists
Wendover productions, Polymatter, Reallifelore, Half as interesting: It’s free real estate

[cypherpunk]

The video hasn't mentioned there is a brand in Shenzhen: Huawei!
My parents moved to Shenzhen in 1984 when I was 1 year old. I grew up with this city and I've seen huge development and changes. And it is still far from the end of its development.

[dezzodarling]

I went to Shenzen in 1989 - the tallest buildings were single storey warehouses and the road between Shenzen and Macau was 2 lanes, but bicycles 3 deep occupied the edges so it was effective single lane "with passing". There wasn't even a direct road from New Territory (Kowloon) so you had to go via Macau by ferry, then 1 hour by jalopy! Today, it has 22 million population and over 50 buildings at 100 storeys. Say what you will - that is MEGA progress in really short time!!!

[stewtoubia]

Property in Shenzhen is, on average, more expensive than San Fransisco and other major cities, yet residents make $3 an hour? Its just...I cant... WHAT?

[jaybee]

Why i have missed this channel!? This is Awesome and informative material, Love the channel!! @wendover productions

[wric]

Everything centralized to manufacture. Designers engineers raw materials machinery logistics shipping etc. Core of success is it's infrastructure and shipping hubs which is built for world's biggest exports in mind.

[theonlynoob]

I went to Shenzhen because I wanted to build my own PC. They sell “parts” parts. Instead of motherboards and graphics cards, they sell legitimate resistors, microchips, soldering lines, led, and all the little parts that make electronics at ridiculous low prices. Like if you ask the store clerk for LAN cable, they sell you by length and normally 100m on a wheel.

Needless to say I could “build a PC” from those parts

[thesunflowchannel]

That moment when you realise that the phone you're watching this video about Shenzhen on was more than likely made in Shenzhen.

[armin]

I used to work in a store that was selling equpitment for exteme sports but all top notch quality. They had jackets for snowboarding that would be up to 800 euros but all were made in china. Deisgned in switzerland but made in china. And the store owner told me that even if the swiss wanted to make the jackets at home they still wouldn't be able to match the production quality in china. We look down on that ''made in china '' label but think about it : for how long have they been making stuff ? I think by now, they prefected every single thing.

[franciswaters]

Got some wireless earphones from anker. Really good. Never even knew they were a Chinese company untill now