China Tells Foreign Firms to Brace for Bigger Competitors
- Foreign access to many growth industries walled off or limited
- Plan to foster national champions threatens foreign companies
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Scouring China’s annual gathering of leaders for clues about business prospects, foreign companies got a clear message: Brace for bigger, stronger local competitors.
Reform of the nation’s $18 trillion state sector will focus on making companies "bigger and better" with mergers and acquisitions pivotal, said the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission Saturday. That plan to create national champions is undermining the confidence of European companies to put more investment in China, said Joerg Wuttke, president of the European Chamber of Commerce in Beijing.