China spreads its wings - Chinese companies go global

Accenture --- Lenovo, Haier, TCL, Huawei, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), Nanjing Automotive and, now, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). Not long ago, these names would have elicited blank looks from most global business executives outside China. Now, however, these companies are part of a trend that is sending shockwaves through the business world. China has 16 companies in the Fortune Global 500 list, up from 11 in 2002 (see Figure 1). The value of overseas acquisitions completed by Chinese companies doubled in 2004, and 2005 has already seen a succession of highly ambitious bids. Chinese companies are looking to make a global impact and achieve high performance.