New order: Asia builds resilience as the geopolitical map is remade
key takeaways.
- Global efforts to build more resilient supply chains are redirecting investment towards Asia, creating new opportunities across the region
- Electronics, semiconductors, and cutting-edge AI-related technologies are becoming increasingly important exports
- Asian nations are fully embedded across the AI value chain – from making the machines that make the chips, to testing, assembling, and packaging the final product
- By 2030, APAC could account for 34% of global data centre demand
- Asia is attracting more foreign direct investment than any other developing region.
As trade flows, AI investment, and global capital are redrawing the economic map, Asian economies are strengthening their role in manufacturing, technology, and infrastructure.
From ‘Made in China’ to ‘Made in Asia’
Supply chain diversification – the smartphone story
Embedded in the AI value chain
Foreign Direct Investment flows into Asia
Asia’s new economic order takes shape
Read also: A tale of two Chinas – the old and new economic divide
1 Four Decades of Poverty Reduction in China: Drivers, Insights for the World, and the Way Ahead. Report by the World Bank and Development Research Center of the State Council, the People’s Republic of China
2 What’s next for poverty reduction policies in China? | Brookings; How China became the world’s factory: Trade, industry & growth; US_Multinational_Enterprise_Activity_in_China.pdf; China Tops U.S. in Manufacturing | IndustryWeek
3 The future of global trade in 2026 | McKinsey
4 WTO | 2025 News items - Large increase in new tariffs but also measures to ease global trade, WTO report shows; WTO | 2026 News items - Updated WTO-IMF TPA Index shows continued rise in global trade policy activity
5 The future of global trade in 2026 | McKinsey
6 Bangladesh loses out as Cambodia, Vietnam capture China's apparel market share: RAPID | The Business Standard
7 The future of global trade in 2026 | McKinsey
8 High-Tech Exports Grew Nearly Three Times Faster Than Global Trade in 2025 to Almost USD 5 Trillion, Boosted by the Artificial Intelligence Buildout
9 Apple Builds iPhone Production Capacity in India to Hedge Its China Risk - Bloomberg
10 How Apple’s $900m tariff headache sparked a strategic shift to India
11 After Two Decades, China No Longer Dominates U.S. Cell Phone Imports
12 South Korea Chip Exports Top $40B for Second Straight Month as KOSPI Stages Record Recovery
13 Malaysia, Singapore exports surge on AI boom, defying Middle East shock
14 Japanese Chips: A Model for Countering China - CEPA; Japan - Semiconductors
15 The rise of artificial intelligence: strategic opportunities for emerging countries
16 Asia–Pacific: The next engine of data center demand | McKinsey & Company
17 China Plans $295 Billion Investment to Build Nationwide AI Data Centers - Bloomberg
18 Asia–Pacific: The next engine of data center demand | McKinsey & Company
19 Developing Asia leads investment among developing regions as patterns shift within the region | UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
20 Ibid
21 Investors Reprice AI Capex As Free Cash Flow Turns Negative | Forbes
22 Developing Asia leads investment among developing regions as patterns shift within the region | UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
23 Median Age by Country 2026; China’s population falls for fourth year amid economic woes - Asia Times
24 Southeast Asia Working-Age Population Growth Projections 2020-2050
25 ASEAN will drive global growth. Here's how to unleash it | World Economic Forum
26 China: trade balance 2025 | Statista
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