When the Chinese battery company Gotion announced its plans to open a factory in the small college town of Big Rapids, Michigan, in 2022, it seemed like the kind of thing Michigan — and the U.S. economy — needed. The facility was slated to bring an estimated 2,350 jobs and $2.3 billion of investment. Gotion would pay future workers $62,000 a year, more than 50% higher than the local median household income. And a new plant would be aligned with the revival of U.S. manufacturing — a goal espoused by both Democrat and Republican politicians.
But, as Viola Zhou reports in our in-depth feature, many locals were vocally opposed to the project. Hundreds of residents protested the factory: putting up yard signs, creating Facebook groups, and organizing rallies. They claimed the chemicals produced from the plant would be toxic, and said the electric-vehicle revolution was a scam. They called Gotion’s Chinese ownership suspicious, and painted the battery plant as a Communist Trojan horse.
What is Gotion?
Gotion was founded in 2006 in the eastern Chinese city of Hefei by Zhen Li. For the first few years, Gotion’s lithium iron phosphate batteries only powered electric bicycles, and the company struggled to turn a profit.
Then, in 2009, Gotion caught a lucky break: The Chinese government announced a monumental industrial policy which helped turn the country into the world’s EV powerhouse. A flood of subsidies, loans, and local government orders promoting the EV industry followed.
Struggling to compete against giants like CATL and BYD at home, Gotion’s Chairman Li set his eyes abroad. By manufacturing outside of China, Gotion would be closer to local automakers, benefit from local government subsidies, and dodge potential tariffs against Chinese imports.
Is Gotion’s Michigan factory open?
More than two years after the project was announced, there is little visible progress at the proposed factory site. The former JCPenney department store that Gotion leased to be its office building is still empty as of December 2024. Although Gotion won a court ruling in May 2024 to continue developing its factory, officials said they had not received any new permit applications. Gotion says the project has not been abandoned. Another U.S. Gotion factory, in Manteno, Illinois, is making much quicker progress.
Where else have Asian factories clashed with locals?
Drawn to its access to European automakers, government subsidies, and favorable geopolitical relations, Chinese battery manufacturers have announced more than $10.9 billion worth of investments in Hungarian factories. As in Michigan, these factories have been controversial with local residents. In Mikepércs, a town 250 kilometers east of Budapest, a group of mothers banned together to fight against a factory being built by Chinese battery giant CATL, fearing environmental degradation. In recent years, there has been a focus on environmental damage and negative health effects from South Korea-funded battery plants in Hungary.
Another struggle occurred in India, where Foxconn began sending Chinese engineers to the country to train the next generation of iPhone builders. For years, Apple relied on China for assembling its products. But political and economic factors forced the company, as well as the broader tech sector, to rethink that approach by seeking partners from across the region. In China, Foxconn demands long days, high targets, and minimal delays and mistakes — all of which proved difficult, if not impossible, to replicate in India. A Taiwanese manager told Rest of World that India’s 8-hour shifts and industry-standard tea breaks were a drag on production. “You have barely settled in on your seat, and the next break comes.”
How have factories from other Asian companies been received in the U.S.?
Previously, Rest of World reported on Taiwanese semiconductor giant TSMC’s struggle to build a factory in Phoenix, Arizona. The project, which was announced in 2020, was plagued by missed deadlines and tension between Taiwanese and American coworkers. American engineers complained of rigid, counterproductive hierarchies at the company; Taiwanese TSMC veterans described their American counterparts as lacking the kind of dedication and obedience they believe to be the foundation of their company’s world-leading success.
