Reason Number 37 - Brand China

Fault Lines On The Face Of China: 50 Reasons Why China May Never Be Great’ - Excerpt 71

“Developing international brands is a matter of great importance to China’s government today. Speaking in summer 2007, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said that domestic firms should improve the quality of their products and develop world-class brands.

But the 2007 Global Business Leadership Survey, created by Fortune China and a consulting firm, found that while 83% of respondents saw the importance of developing a global brand name, only 22% demonstrated the necessary skills for operating in the global marketplace. The survey was conducted among senior Chinese business leaders and also revealed that, while 75% of them had traveled overseas, most travel was for a short period of time, and only 45% of the total was business travel. 

Surprisingly, only a third of leaders maintained personal networks outside China, indicating an isolationist attitude among Chinese business leaders. ‘The report indicates that there are capability gaps between business leaders who are effective and capable in the domestic market and those who can operate effectively at a global level,’ said media.”

Fault Lines On The Face Of China: 50 Reasons Why China May Never Be Great’ - Excerpt 72

“China’s attitude to building globally recognized brands seems to be based more on the assumption that China has a right to such kudos than the need to earn it. Unfortunately, China’s ‘victim mentality’ when it comes to its rights in the world is creating real victims.

In the wake of a series of scandals linked to Chinese-made products, China testily complained about ‘smear attacks’ on its goods. ‘Blowing up, complicating or politicizing a problem are irresponsible actions and do not help in its solution’ China’s Washington Embassy said in summer 2007, perfecting its ‘Sino-spite’ vocabulary. ‘It is even more unacceptable for some to launch groundless smear attacks on China at the excuse of drug and safety problems.’

One of these ‘safety problems’ occurred in 2006 when tainted cough medicine from China led more than 100 deaths in Panama. The medicine had been made with a chemical called diethylene glycol, instead of the correct chemical, gylcerine. The products also used the trademark ‘glicerine.’ The original source of the diethylene glycol was a factory in China’s Jiangsu Province, which has labeled the chemical as ‘TD Glycerine.’ This product had been sold to a Spanish firm. The Chinese firm said they told the Spanish firm the product should not be used in medicines. But Panamanian businessmen brought the chemical from the Spanish firm, changed its name to ‘Pure glycerine’ and extended its sell-by date.”