Chinese Brand Development In A Global Context

Globalization opens up opportunities to all countries for development. Every country designs international strategies to integrate into the world economy. China, as a big economy, also needs to build up its own famous brands to take part in global competition. Under this circumstance, international brand development is therefore proposed.During the process of "going global", Chinese companies have already realized the extreme importance of brands; the Chinese government also tries best to encourage the establishment of independent brands in recent two years. The present question is which international branding strategy one company should use? Can they find some shortcuts to shorten the international branding process and realize global goals? A review of the literature has revealed that insufficient attention has been paid to the international branding process of Chinese companies. Thus, using the international brand development model, considering domestic market conditions and distinctive characteristics of China, combining the practice of some Chinese enterprises, this thesis aims to propose several different international branding strategies that our companies can ; choose from given their practical conditions and development strategies.This thesis analyzes international branding development considering both international and domestic environment. On international environment, international branding development is the result of globalization and China's accession to WTO. In terms of domestic factors, international branding development is a strategy to keep sustainable growth, a strategy to transform foreign trade patterns, and most importantly to enhance companies' competitive flexibility. The author introduces some early movers such as Lenovo, Haier, TCL, Huawei, etc. Not long ago, these names would have elicited blank looks from most global business executives outside China. Now, however, these companies are part of international branding trend that is sending Shockwaves through the business world.Then this thesis focuses on some achievements Chinese companies have made. China has 20 companies in the Fortune Global 500 list in 2006. The value of overseas acquisitions completed by Chinese companies doubled in 2004, and 2005 had already seen a succession of highly ambitious bids. Chinese companies are looking to make a global impact and achieve high performance in 2006. Finally the thesis discusses the existing problems in China's international branding process and gives some suggestions. For example, the upgrading of OEM, the paths for the change of China's acquisitions and mergers brand strategy and so on.In sum, this thesis tries to present a relatively systemic and comprehensive analysis on Chinese international branding development. The author stresses the achievements Chinese companies have gained so far and reveals the problems it has to solve as well. Then the thesis tries to draw such a conclusion that Chinese companies need to identify their competitive advantages in a global marketplace and build the necessary skills to capitalize on these opportunities. Only in this way, can world-class Chinese brands emerge.