Since the late 1970s, China has gradually transformed from a planned system towards a market economy and its private sector has played increasingly important roles in the national development. During the process, Chinese private manufacturing firms made remarkable contribution to advancing reform, driving growth, enhancing export and improving employment. After the early 2000s, China joined in the World Trade Organisation and aimed to further progress its development through globalisation. The deep integration with the global economy has greatly facilitated China’s global competitiveness in manufacturing industries, but it has also brought the country with a series of development challenges. Nowadays, many Chinese private manufacturing firms are encountering various problems and stuck in development predicament. This dissertation tries to explore the question: What are the current development challenges for Chinese private manufacturing firms in globalisation? The research question is relevant to a wide range of theoretical and empirical research in development studies, including firm competition in global value chains, industrial districts in the global economy, large business in global competition and global battles within China. Building on critical reviews on related literature, the dissertation tries to enrich the existing knowledge by investigating the latest development of China’s manufacturing industries, analysing the challenges and responses of Chinese leading private firms of both large and small sizes individually, and discussing how the interaction of foreign and indigenous firms in both domestic and international markets shapes the global competitiveness of Chinese private firms. The dissertation mainly conducts qualitative inquiry and case studies to analyse the research question. Wenzhou is an outstanding pioneer in China to develop private economy and lead economic reform. The dissertation therefore makes in-depth investigation on Wenzhou’s leading firms in the footwear and the electrical equipment industries, to reflect China’s development in globalisation. Based on Wenzhou’s experience, the dissertation summarises the competition situation of Chinese private manufacturing firms in globalisation, concludes their current development challenges and puts forward policy implications for China’s economic reform and industrial upgrade.

Many companies are entering the international manufacturing arena. The continued expansion of the global market suggests that international manufacturing will grow. Among other concerns, the difficulty of producing high quality in some countries suggests that it is critical that companies using international locations for manufacturing find methods to better monitor and improve quality. The purpose of this research was to develop and test a method for quality improvement in an offshore environment. This method would be specifically applicable to a third-party logistics company (3PL), where the 3PL is a United States company that brokers manufacturing in China, networks to multiple manufacturers for a variety of products within that country, and is responsible for the final quality of the products made in China. After designing a new quality method that focused on regular recording and reporting of data, it was implemented into a 3PL test-case company and tested and results reported. From the results salient points were identified that improve quality when working with a 3PL located in China with a parent company in the United States. These points include: structure for reporting quality, management involvement, employee dedication to quality, and cultural understanding and awareness. Recommendations for further research are also outlined. These include: extended time (beyond three months) to implement the method and test it, larger sample size to improve the quantitative analysis, cost benefit analysis for the implementation of the method, implementation in different nations, and implementation in a manufacturing company specific to a product.