Chinese brands in global marketplace set to grow

LONDON -- The presence of Chinese brands as part of the global marketplace will increase significantly over the next years, according to the chief executive of one of the world's leading business services firms Ernst & Young.

James Turley, Ernst & Young's chief executive officer, told Xinhua, "I think Chinese companies are increasingly being recognized as world class."

Turley added, "If you think about the Fortune 500 Largest Businesses in the world, over the last seven or eight years the number of Chinese companies on that list has grown five times, from some 15 or 16 to 80. And so, it has been a remarkable growth and I think that is going to continue."

Turley said that part of this growth was attributable to privatization, from the listing of State-owned companies, but part was companies "own growth and their increasing appetite to look outside of China, not just to meet the needs of the dynamic Chinese markets, but to look outside for growth opportunities and acquisitions."

Turley pointed to the acquisition of Smithfield, the well-known United States brand, by Shuanghui International Holdings, as a recent example of such growth.

Turley said that his company did business in three sectors in China - private Chinese companies, State-owned Chinese companies and non-Chinese companies.

Of these, Turley said the smallest sector was private Chinese companies. However this sector was set for growth. "They will grow rapidly. So, while they are not State-owned, I think what the government does own is the environment in which they operate. And so, the government doing everything to encourage, if you will, an open economy," said Turley.

Open economy and innovation vital for success

An open economy where entrepreneurs were not penalized for trying businesses and failing was essential to growth, Turley said.

"A lot of entrepreneur activity does not work the first time, and so if either tax systems or legal systems or culture make it better not to have tried than to have tried and failed then you won't have as much innovation. And so, I think the government's own role and the tax system and the rule of law are what encourage entrepreneurship," he said.