An employee assembles electric scooters for export at a factory the Jiangsu province of China.VCG/Getty Images China has been the factory of the world for over four decades. But now, companies are now reassessing their reliance on the country. Apple, chip-giant TSMC, and Mazda are diversifying their supply chains out of China. China has been the world's factory for over 40 years — but the tides are changing.China's era of globalization and integrated supply chains started to crumble around 2018, after then-President Donald Trump launched a trade war against the East Asian giant.