Citigroup CEO says clients are shifting supply chains away from China

Citigroup Inc.’s clients are shifting supply chains away from China in a trend that is likely to last for years, according to David Livingstone, the lender’s chief executive officer for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Citi remains positive on China but a recalibration of global supply chains that’s been underway since the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated following the war in Ukraine, Livingstone said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

“That will be a multi-year, decadal type trend and we’re seeing places, like Mexico, like Vietnam and others benefiting very significantly, and that’s something which we can assist with wherever our clients go,” he said, predicting that chips will also move away from China.

The expanding trade conflict between the US and China is spurring a rethink of the electronics industry’s decades-old supply structures. The world’s reliance on the Asian nation became starkly clear during the COVID-19 Zero years, when Beijing’s restrictions choked off the supply of everything from phones to cars.