Foreign Multinationals Look to Intensify Collaboration with Chinese Partners
Qian Tongxin
DATE:  Jun 28 2017
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
Foreign Multinationals Look to Intensify Collaboration with Chinese Partners Foreign Multinationals Look to Intensify Collaboration with Chinese Partners

(Yicai Global) June 28 -- Foreign companies operating in China will increase cooperation with local firms, and reinvest income in the country, their top executives told Yicai Global on the sidelines of the Summer Davos forum.

Chinese companies are ramping up innovation efforts and becoming more competitive, said Daniel Starta, president of A.T. Kearney Greater China.

Multinationals must push forward business transformation with a sense of urgency, if they want to keep an edge while competing with local firms, he said.

Multinationals must also have an in-depth understanding of the Chinese market, and know how to improve their value chains. Many companies fail due to a lack of understanding of the market, he added.

The firm's operations in China mainly involve providing solutions for corporates, and cooperation -- especially strategic cooperation -- with local companies is a critical factor, Thaddeus Arroyo, chief executive at AT&T Inc. [NYSE:T] for business solutions and International affairs, told our reporter, adding that telecommunication carriers must increase investment to build infrastructure and recruit local staff in the host country, and help Chinese enterprises go global.

Openness and fair competition are very important principles for companies. Johnson Controls started investing in China many years ago, and has ramped up its reinvestment in the country in recent years. It regards China and Asia Pacific as very important markets, said Alex Molinaroli, co-chair of Davos and global chief executive of Johnson Controls International PLC [NYSE:JCI].

The firm has contributed continuously to economic growth in China through technology innovation, and will up its investment in traction batteries and other new energy businesses, Molinaroli added.

With economic restructuring in China, foreign companies have come to a key turning point, and they must respond to the shift more swiftly, noted Han Weiwen, president at Bain & Company Inc. Greater China.

Multinationals have seen profits decline in China in the past several years, mainly because of internal issues such as protracted and inefficient decision-making, Han said.

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Keywords:   Summer Davos,Investment,Multinational Senior Executive,Chinese Market