FOREIGN COMPANIES IN CHINA
In 1979, there were 100 foreign-owned enterprises in China. In 1998, there were 280,000. As of 2007, foreign companies employed 25 million people in China. U.S. companies with offices in Beijing include Google, Microsoft, FMC, Cigna, Unisys and General Electric. U.S. companies with major production facilities in Shanghai include Dupont, Rohm & Haas and General Electric. As of early 2010, Fortune 500 companies had 98 research and development facilities in China.
Foreign companies in China include Coca Cola, Pepsi Cola, Nike, AT&T Corp., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Citibank, Morgan Stanley & Co., Volkswagen AG, Unilever, Toshiba Corp., Matsushita Electrical Industrial Co., General Motors, France's Citreon, Philips Electronics, Cisco, Microsoft, Motorola, Samsung Electronics, NEC. Proctor and Gamble, Wringley chewing gum.and Hitachi Ltd.
Western productsespecially cigarettes, liquor, cameras, watches and designer clotheshave traditionally been are seen as a statues symbol. a Western analyst told the Washington Post, "Anything foreign is a cachet. Rightly or wrongly, it's considered to be of better quality."Among the American products that have been available for some time in China are Head and Shoulders shampoo, Raid insecticide, Camay soap, Milky Way candy bars and Dove ice creams bars. For a while Chinese companies Americanized their products and logos, putting statues of Liberty on their packages. The flying red horse symbol of the Mobile Corp. has been in China since the late 1800s. [Source: Peter Behr, the Washington Post]
As of 2010, 300,000 foreign companies had invested in China. United States companies with the biggest investment in China (1998): 1) General Motors ($2 billion), with a massive Buick plant in Shanghai; 2) Motorola ($1.2 billion), cell phones and pagers; 3) General Electric ($1.1 billion), high-tech medical equipment and CD plastic; 4) Arco ($620 million), oil exploration in the South China Sea; 5) Coca Cola ($500 million); 6) Hewlett-Packard ($400 million); 7) Proctor and Gamble ($360 million), with a huge shampoo plant; 8) Amoco ($350 million), polyester plant supplies clothes factories; 9) United Technologies ($250 million). [Sorry for the dated data, but I haven't found any good recent data]
Foreign companies doing business in China are generally required to form joint ventures with Chinese companies instead of forming wholly owned subsidiaries. Entrance by foreign companies to the Chinese market is often determined by how much technology and know-how the Chinese can get from the foreign company. Many Chinese worry that foreign companies are posed to take over entire sector of the economy.
In 2010, China announced plans to require Western companies doing business in China to turn over sensitive technologies and patents to Chinese competitors in exchange for access to the countrys markets. According to a 2010 American Chamber of Commerce report, U.S. businesses were losing Chinese sales because of rules to support homegrown technologies.
Japanese companies are put under more scrutiny than Chinese companies or companies from other countries. If something goes wrong with a Japanese product, particularly a car, the problems get a lot of attention. Advertisement by Japanese companies are also scrutinized carefully for anything that might be perceived as anti-Chinese.
American companies doing business in China have to assure Washington that their dealings will not compromise American national security in any way.In 2006, the Chinese government placed limits on real estate investment and tightened controls on mergers involving foreign firms. The Carlyle Group bid for 85 percent of Xugong, Chinas biggest maker of construction equipment, was abandoned.
Most goods that U.S. companies manufacture in China are sold in China not exported to the United States.
FOREIGN COMPANIES AND FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN CHINA - China | Facts and Details