China in dire need of own name brands
( 2003-09-27 10:41) (Xinhua)
Along with the sustainable development of China's foreign trade, "Made in China" has become a hot topic among insiders. Emerging in the media are the reports that China will become a "world factory" and "Made in China" will make reappear the glories of "Made in USA" and "Made in Japan".
However, people have noticed, in the meanwhile goods made in China are occupying more and more shares in the international market no Chinese transnational corporation has ever enjoyed such international fame as GM and Motorola do for China has no super brands of its own. To a great extent, China's shares in the international market is "extensive sowing with little yielding", namely, huge exports but low profits.
The urgent task is to create the famous brands belonging to Chinese enterprises if we want to keep the present market shares for long in the fierce international market, according to delegates attending at the "Seminar On China's Transnational Business and Credit Management" held in Beijing.
The age of "Made In China" won't come by easily following those of "Made In USA" and "Made In Japan", as the insiders analyze. Only 11 Chinese enterprises are listed among the Top 500 companies selected by the American magazine "Fortune", most of which are in national monopoly industries, such as electric power, petroleum and banking. Only few Chinese brands are famous in the world.
So, people of insight are calling for Chinese companies to build up the competitiveness at the core and produce goods "invented in China" instead of "made in China".
Why the Chinese enterprises could emerge stronger in "manufacturing" industry under a weaker "originating" condition was because they hadn't suffered any pressure exerted directly from transnational corporations, especially from that in price. It is by taking the advantages of localization that domestic companies could accumulate strength, develop and expand. Although transnational corporations always liked to reduce the prices of their products in China in order to take over more market shares, they couldn't exert any substantial threat to Chinese enterprises, owing to such factors as tariff barrier before China's entry into the WTO.
However, China has become an official member of the WTO, and tariff barriers must be lifted and the rules of games must be obeyed. So, the direct conflicts between Chinese enterprises and world-renowned transnational corporations will be unavoidable.
As a matter of fact, to grab shares in Chinese market and to wrestle for marketplace in international market with the "made in China" products have become an important component part of the global strategies of many international corporations. At the juncture, if the Chinese companies still follow the old rut of "extensive sowing with little yielding" they can not only realize the superiority of "creativeness" but also lose sooner or later the solid and advantageous foundation in the "manufacturing" business established in the past.
In 1960's, the manufacturing industry of Japan entered the international market, holding the shares of the market at the lower end by the advantage of low cost. Today, it is the same with the Chinese companies. After a lot of creative activities, Japanese companies produced many brands of their own and gradually broke the old market pattern in which American companies took the lion's share in 1970's.
After the accumulation of many years, the aggregate of Chinese economy and that of China's foreign trade have ranked among the foremost of the world, and the comprehensive national strength has been improved greatly. So, it is now a high time for China to transform the pattern of foreign trade and promote the competitiveness of Chinese brands. It is believed that Chinese brands will someday be famous as SONY and Ford after years of endeavor.
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