On September 9, 2026, Asia Academy of Digital Economics (AADE) President Tan Poh Hwee published a commentary in the South China Morning Post titled "Governance must be the new competitive edge for China's global firms." The piece uses a labour dispute at Changzhou-based Xingyu Automotive Lighting System — a major supplier to Volkswagen, BMW, and other global automakers — as a case study in how domestic governance failures can follow mainland Chinese manufacturers into international supply chains.
Tan writes that Xingyu's business footprint expanded internationally faster than its governance practices could keep pace, after the company reportedly compelled 107 newly hired graduates to resign roughly a month after joining. He draws parallels to earlier cases involving Samsung's supplier Dongguan Shinyang Electronics and Apple's supplier Pegatron, noting that in neither case did the consequences require a court ruling — customer purchasing power alone was enough to enforce corrective action.
Tan argues that for mainland Chinese manufacturers, European regulatory exposure typically arrives indirectly, through customer procurement contracts and supplier codes of conduct, rather than direct action from Brussels. He concludes that a single avoidable employment dispute can now be scrutinized simultaneously under mainland Chinese labour law, customer compliance rules, European supply chain requirements, and Hong Kong SAR exchange disclosure standards — making verifiable governance, alongside cost and quality, a fourth pillar of competitiveness for Chinese firms going global.