China may be the low-wage manufacturing capital of the world, but not every company comes here to save money on labor. Instead, as China develops its own economy, companies are opening plants here to be close to customers, to be close to raw materials, and for other strategic reasons.

In yet another sign that China is now at the forefront of manufacturing, ABB Robotics has moved its world headquarters from Detroit to Shanghai, China. ABB Robotics is part of Switzerland-based ABB Group, and is a world leader in automation technology. Decades ago, the company was the first to market a microcomputer-controlled, all-electric industrial robot.

U.S.-based hard disk drive maker Seagate Technology International today won the prestigious Singapore Manufacturing Excellence Award. The award, presented by Singapore’s Economic Development Board in cooperation with McKinsey & Co. and the Singapore-MIT Alliance, considered such factors as product innovation, systems innovation and operational excellence.

Nanjing is a good place to put a chemical plant – a friendly government, a dedicated chemical industry park, lower labour costs and lots of big names already in residence. But privately, some chemical company executives say that when it comes to logistics, Nanjing still suffers when compared to Shanghai.

About two dozen supply chain executives from around the world gathered here earlier this month to discuss the business-technology challenges of managing their dispersed and diverse supplier networks in China, a country rich in opportunity but short on support infrastructure.