How is China faring in the west these days? While there has been some stagnation and stock market drops, simultaneously there has been direct investment and acquisitions. One recent example was the acquisition of Syngenta by ChemChina and KraussMaffei. In addition, for the last decade and a half, there have been large-scale investments into Africa from China. Trade has actually reached $200bn per annum, making China Africa’s largest trading partner.
Academically this is also the case. Earlier this year, a Dual Degree EMBA has been offered by the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business and IMD Business School in Switzerland. Featuring five different subjects, two are taught in Europe, two in China and the fifth in South Africa given that it is midway between East and West.
A Chinese company also recently purchased Ahava. Conglomerate Fosum spent $77 million on the firm, indicating that BDS is not at the forefront of their minds.
There is a lot to be said for the pursuance of Chinese-Euro relationships. Daniël Ben-Ezra, Media Director of Spotz Media has been studying the phenomenon over the last few years. What he found was that ultimately the corporate gap between Asia and Europe is not that huge. He explains:
“If you compare the European way of doing business with that of the Chinese, the importance of networking in China is paramount. Moreover, decisions are invariably made at the top of the pyramid. There is a strong hierarchy. For example, it is a waste of time talking to assistants as they have little or no authority to make decisions. The Chinese are also very bureaucratic, they love the red tape of seals, multiple signatures and copies of forms.”
Ultimately the statistics speak for themselves. Trading has escalated hugely over the last few decades. Just back in 1977 China held a mere 0.6 percent of international trade. But by 2012 it had become the world’s largest trading nation. Today, 124 countries view China as their “largest trading partner,” which is huge compared to the US number of 76.