Why 'China plus one' is paying off less than Southeast Asia hoped | Fortune

Southeast Asia’s “China plus one” strategy has attracted billions of dollars in new factories, but it’s delivering fewer gains than regional leaders expected, according to Fortune. The core issue is what hasn’t moved: design, key components, and process know-how that capture most value. Vietnam, often singled out as a star economy, concentrates on final assembly for export rather than producing intermediate components. The article adds that some buyers, frustrated by a still-underdeveloped supplier ecosystem, are shifting parts of supply chains back to China—while Chinese firms increasingly treat the region as a consumer market, not a labor base.