From inadaily.com:
Three images shape the perception of China abroad: China as the world’s factory, as the world’s biggest market and as a huge risk. It may be time to add a fourth: China as an idea factory, as a prime location for research and development.
In the 1990s, the Chinese were feared copy artists. Then came a wave of home-grown machines, which were better geared to the needs of developing companies than the technical masterpieces designed in industrial countries. The Chinese have since created their own brands, which are gaining global market share thanks in part to domestic product development. A growing number of Chinese companies are acquiring foreign competitors. Volkswagen’s Chinese partner, SAIC, purchased the Korean carmaker Ssangyong. And the Chinese electronics companies TLC bought the television division of the French company Thomson. These purchases give China access to new markets and to development capacity. Soon they will be able to produce complex plants and systems.
