Chinese Media's Favorable Reports on Samsung
Chinese state media outlets are lavishing praises on Samsung Electronics. They appear to be worrying that the closure of the last Samsung’s smartphone manufacturing plant in Huizhou last month may be regarded as the Korean tech giant’s withdrawal from China.
Global Times, a Chinese state-run newspaper, highlighted in an Oct. 15 column Samsung’s generous treatment of the Chinese employees of the closed plant. It stressed that Chinese companies should learn from Samsung's responsible attitude. After the shutdown of the Huizhou plant, Samsung provided employees with generous retirement allowances, rewards and social insurance premiums. It also gave them smartphones and luxury watches as gifts and helped them find jobs at other companies. These stories were told by the employees through Weibo.
“Even though Samsung lost its share in the Chinese smartphone market, it still maintains a strong position in the Chinese mobile phone supply chain,” said the 21st Century Business Herald, a Chinese economic journal, on the same day. The journal noted that Samsung Electronics is not only a smartphone manufacturer but a global supplier of memory semiconductors and display panels, among others. Huawei and other Chinese smartphone makers rely on Samsung to receive the most expensive parts ranging from semiconductors to panels, the journal added.
Earlier on Oct. 14, Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang visited Samsung's semiconductor plant in Xian, China and said, "China will open its door wider to the world. We welcome steady investment in China from high-tech companies including Samsung Electronics."