Southward Shift of Industrial Chains and the Reshaping of China-ASEAN Manufacturing Division of Labor: An Analysis from the Regional Value Chain Perspective

Ailian Huang

doi:10.62051/ijgem.v10n7.02

Authors

Ailian Huang China-ASEAN School of Economics, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.62051/ijgem.v10n7.02

Keywords:

Regional value chains, Industrial relocation, China-ASEAN division of labor, Trade in tasks, Production fragmentation, RCEP

Abstract

The relocation of labor-intensive manufacturing from China to ASEAN since 2012 reconfigures the regional division of labor rather than constituting zero-sum industrial transfer. Treating production tasks as the unit of analysis, we integrate global value chain theory, regional value chain analysis, the flying geese model, new economic geography, and the trade-in-tasks literature to identify three reorganization margins—extensive, intensive, and regional integration—shaped by RCEP’s institutional architecture. Drawing on the GVC upgrading literature, we differentiate capability-deepening integration, which builds host-country productive capacities, from capability-thinning assembly operations that entrench dependence on external suppliers. The framework yields implications for China’s industrial upgrading and ASEAN’s industrialization prospects.

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