Workers at a production workshop of Foxconn's technology park in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan Province on September 4, 2021. The park is a major global smartphone manufacturing base. Photo: VCG

 Apple has no plan to transfer its supply chain out of the Chinese mainland, Young Liu, chairman and CEO of Foxconn, the largest iPhone manufacturer, told the Global Times on the sidelines of the 14th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also known as the Summer Davos Forum on Wednesday.

During a panel discussion focusing on Asia's manufacturing resurgence, Liu said that, compared to the limited resources of the primary sector and the uncertainty of the tertiary sector, the secondary sector -- processing and manufacturing industry plays an irreplaceable and important role in economic growth, which enhances resource utilization, creates jobs, and is an important force for a stable and prosperous society. 

"China is now the world's largest manufacturing base, and Asia has the potential to build a regional manufacturing system," he said.

Liu added that the new-energy vehicle sector will be the next key segment for Foxconn. "We call it the '3+3 strategy': electric vehicles, digital health and robotics, which are three future industries supported by three future core technologies, namely artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and future communications."

According to Economic Daily News, Liu recently said in an interview that with the tension between China and the US, Foxconn managed to "de-risk" and it is relaying part of the supply chain, hoping to take 5 percent of the global market share for electric vehicles in the next few years.

In response, Liu told the reporters during the Summer Davos Forum that "de-risking" is not de-capacity. "It means the risk of management, while not capacity, such as encountering earthquakes and windstorms, so it is not primarily de-risking, but is for the sustainable development of the enterprise."

Some foreign media outlets reported that Apple's upcoming iPhone 15 series, which will be released in September this year, will enter mass production at the end of June, and Foxconn will become Apple's largest assembly partner for the series, accounting for some 60 percent of the order share. Since this year, Liu has made several trips to Foxconn factories in Zhengzhou and Chengdu.

According to the recruitment information obtained by the Global Times, Foxconn currently offers a bonus plan of up to 3,500 yuan ($484.6) in order to have access to more employees.