Role of China in global supply chains

Character of competition on international markets has changed, the battle about a client is led not by single enterprises but by integrated supply chains. At the same time the structure of supply chains has spread out from local to global network. The country, which is placed in the center of interest of multinational companies, is China. Its access to the World Trade Organization had strongly boosted its attractiveness for global investments. The main purpose of this article is to show the position of China in the supply chains of global companies. The presented results of research indicated the most important challenges for logistics in China. The exact analysis of this sector allows to define, on one hand, prospects, on the other hand, threats, for its development in the future. The article presents importance of China as the place of sourcing (low-cost country sourcing), with particular attention to sourcing strategies of global retail networks. The author leads also consideration to logistics of distribution and defines the most important distribution strategies of firms, which are doing business in China. Finally, strategy of Motorola Incorporated is presented as an example of the global company, which used the potential of China and developed the strategy of global partner supply chain and achieved success.