Made in Malaysia vs Made in China

Up to year 2015, more than 70% Malaysia gift & premium items are imported from oversea, mainly from China. The percentage is going to drop this year because China’s low-end manufacturing industry is facing high costing challenges, significantly reduce their global market competitiveness especially Southeast Asia markets.

There are two reasons. First is the cost of transportation. Gift & premium items are respectively low cost. While the unit value of the gift item is very low against the high logistics costs, the business would harder to expand or sustain.

The second is labor costs. We look at the economic comparison of China and Southeast Asia – Malaysia. By 2015, GDP per capita in coastal China has up to USD 10,000 which is close to GDP per capita in Malaysia has up to USD 11,500 same year. Even the central and western China regions also generally continued raise up to USD 6,500. Current GDP per capita impacts on wage costs are decisive, plus the high cost of transportation caused China low end manufacturers are no way to resist.