Name Goods in China but Brand X Elsewhere

Chinese businesses, with the encouragement of their government, have embarked on a worldwide label buying spree, purchasing internationally well-known brand names. Chinese bids to acquire prominent American companies such as Maytag and Unocal demonstrate that China is eager to make its top companies more competitive by allowing them to access international markets as well as their domestic consumer base. Though many of the Chinese firms in question have widespread name recognition at home, their brand carries little premium abroad. Acquisition of globally popular companies, such as Lenovo’s takeover of IBM’s personal computer division, allow Chinese businesses both to piggyback on the more well-known brand’s popularity as well as closely study the management and leadership practices which made that brand successful in the first place. The increasing activity of China as a global investor shows its economic ascendancy and its recent willingness to do more to comply with the WTO’s rules. But above all, the Middle Kingdom is evincing a desire to go beyond its manufacturing clout and reach the highest pinnacle of world business. -YaleGlobal