From Overseas Press

Chinese score in World Cup sponsorship

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-07-09 17:08

Chinese solar manufacturers' readiness to sponsor international tournaments with huge investments is "a push for global recognition" and is "part of a trend of Chinese solar firms focusing more on branding," the Financial Times reported Thursday.

World Cup Chinese sponsor Yingli Green Energy allegedly spent millions of dollars to partner with FIFA to reach billions of people worldwide. And Trina Solar, another solar panel company, sponsored the Renault Formula One team this year.

These companies are using this method to fight customer concerns about the quality of their products, although that has "largely caught up to their Western counterparts thanks to improving technology but not in terms of branding and recognition," reported the paper.

Terry Wang, chief financial officer of Trina Solar, said "The sports sponsorship was aimed at increasing brand awareness. Chinese brand names have to go out and reach out to every corner of the globe. Awareness of Chinese brands was already on the rise."

The paper reported that branding is becoming more crucial as Chinese companies open plants overseas. China's Suntech, the world's largest solar manufacturer, is building a plant in the US, and Yingli is choosing a location for its first plant in the US.

Trina and Suntech also chose names that sound less Chinese, the paper reported. Yingli is among very few Chinese solar companies to maintain its Chinese name abroad.