Fri, 10 February 2012
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Jorg van den Hoven literally finds himself in the middle of the Chinese economic crisis.
A video report by Radio Netherlands.Jorg van den Hoven literally finds himself in the middle of the Chinese economic crisis. His design bureau in the south develops products for western customers, produced in one of the many factories in the area. But since the start of the credit crisis, this workshop of the world is, for the first time, not running at full capacity.
A worried Mr Van den Hoven looks out of the car window.
"Everything empty, it's unbelievable."
He's on his way to two electronics factories in the district to see whether they have the material to make an electric shaver for him. Since the beginning of this year, finding the right factory has become more difficult, says the Dutch businessman.
"Many factories already closed at the beginning of January, in time for the Chinese New Year. And they've remained closed. Only in the last couple of weeks have many factories resumed their work, but they're often running with half the staff."
The other factory, a few kilometres away, is on a smaller scale, and can produce the electronic parts that he wants cheaply. But here too there are some empty spaces. The Chinese factory owner explains that half the staff have been laid off.
"We hardly receive any new orders."
The Dutch entrepreneur is now an important potential client - an advantage during the crisis, he believes:
"We're only a small player in China, but during the crisis factories are more keen to work with us. And I can also get small orders done more easily."
The negotiations go smoothly. Mr Van den Hoven assures the factory owner as he leaves:
"We're going to fill up your factory again."
Sigrid Deters
Radio Netherlands
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