Ansell chief executive Magnus Nicolin has warned China of "brutal" consequences as manufacturers leave the country over rising costs and fears at the escalation in trade war with Donald Trump.

"So many manufacturers are moving out of China at breakneck speed. You don't see it in the China-reported GDP growth numbers yet. I suspect that sooner or later it will be visible," Mr Nicolin said.

"It's going to be quite brutal for China here, in a short while."

Mr Nicolin said while Ansell had moved some production out of China "mostly because of (the) trade war, it probably would have happened anyway, because China is frankly a very expensive place to produce in these days. So we can produce a product at 20-30 per cent lower cost in Vietnam or Sri Lanka."