Asian CEOs feeling burden of China, US tech restrictions, survey finds

Asian companies are feeling the impact of technology restrictions imposed by the US and China “more acutely” than American firms, and supplier diversification is topping the agenda for CEOs in the year ahead, a survey by The Conference Board has found.

According to the survey, 23 per cent of Asian CEOs polled cited export controls as a trade concern, compared with just 11 per cent of American CEOs.

“The expanding economic security tool kit, including tech controls, affects Asia more acutely because firms sit at the centre of global tech manufacturing and supply chains, making them directly exposed to restrictions on critical inputs,” said Max Zenglein, the author of a report on the survey.

With competition persisting, Zenglein added that CEOs were making operational agility a priority through inventory optimisation and supplier diversification.

The tech competition between the United States and China has seen Beijing seek to emulate Washington with a “small yard, high fence” of its own to shut out US tech, as evidenced by its recent anxieties over Nvidia’s high-end H200 chips and an investigation into Facebook owner Meta Platforms’ acquisition of Chinese-founded artificial intelligence (AI) start-up Manus.

The annual survey by the non-profit think tank was carried out between October 10 and November 24, with 1,732 high-level executives responding, including 771 CEOs from around the world.

Globally, the survey found that 41.6 per cent of CEOs were “most concerned” about supply chain disruptions, which reflected the lingering vulnerabilities exposed in recent years as such challenges mounted in North America, Europe and Asia.

South China Morning Post