Editor’s note: In January, Chinese magazine Global Entrepreneur published the 2011 results of their annual"Chinese Companies in the Eyes of Foreigners" survey. As in previous years, the survey was conducted in cooperation with Paris-based market research company Ipsos, which surveyed a total of 1,400 people (200 per country) in December 2011. The survey analyses various elements of the perception of Chinese brands abroad, including their overall image of Chinese companies, their awareness of these Chinese companies, and their attitude towards them and their perception of the Chinese market in the post-financial crisis era. The survey also sought to identify which Chinese companies are best suited for becoming global brands and what could help drive them onto the global market.

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Some of the companies appearing on the 2011 "Chinese Companies in the Eyes of Foreigners" survey are first-timers, and are thus not very well-known abroad, while other Chinese companies, such as Lenovo, Haier and Huawei have already been in overseas markets for quite some time, and have thus become the representatives of "the Chinese company" in other countries. The most obvious trend of the 2011 survey is that Japan and South Korea’s perception of Chinese companies and products are much less impressive than in other countries, which illustrates that the Chinese companies must continue to develop more advanced technologies and put out better products in the future if they wish to improve their international image.

Below are several items from the 2011 "Chinese Companies in the Eyes of Foreigners" that highlight these trends.

1) Ranking of the awareness of Chinese companies and the usage of their products/services abroad

According to the survey, despite the rising awareness of Chinese companies in foreign markets, the usage of their products and services is still quite low. As compared to the 2010 survey, awareness in the Bank of China, Huawei and Chery all increased significantly, although the use of the products and services of Huawei, China Southern Airlines and Bank of China only somewhat increased.

	United States		Britain		Germany		Australia
	Awareness	Usage	Awareness	Usage	Awareness	Usage	Awareness	Usage
1	Lenovo	Tsingtao beer	Bank of China	Tsingtao beer	Bank of China	Lenovo	Bank of China	Tsingtao beer
2	Bank of China	Lenovo	Tsingtao beer	Lenovo	Lenovo	Tsingtao beer	Lenovo	Lenovo
3	Tsingtao Beer	Haier	Lenovo	China Southern Airlines	Air China	Huawei	Air China	Air China
4	Haier	Huawei	Air China	Huawei	Huawei	Air China	Huawei	China Southern Airlines
5	Air China	Alibaba	Huawei	Bank of China	Tsingtao beer	Chery	Chery	Huawei

 

	Japan		South Korea		Brazil
	Awareness	Usage	Awareness	Usage	Awareness	Usage
1	Tsingtao beer	Tsingtao beer	Tsingtao beer	Tsingtao beer	Lenovo	Lenovo
2	Lenovo	Lenovo	SAIC Motor	Haier	ZTE	Huawei
3	Bank of China	China Eastern Airlines	Hainan Airlines	Lenovo	Chery	ZTE
4	Haier	Baidu	Bank of China	China Eastern Airlines	Huawei	Midea
5	Air China	Air China	Haier	Hainan Airlines	Bank of China	Chery

2) Chinese Companies are more "innovative" (but the advanced technology they use was likely stolen)

According to the survey, a majority of the respondents believe that"There are excellent Chinese companies that have grown with technology innovation." Yet despite this near-unanimous praise, more than 70% of the respondents from Germany, Japan and South Korea believe that: "Most Chinese companies are suspected of stealing advanced technology from foreign firms."

	United States	Britain	Germany	Australia	Japan	South Korea	Brazil
There are excellent Chinese companies that have grown with technology innovation	78%	81%	72%	85%	62%	74%	79%
Most Chinese companies are suspected of stealing advanced technology from foreign firms	49%	39%	73%	53%	87%	76%	44%

3) The most successfully internationalised Chinese companies

Despite the general lack of awareness of Chinese companies abroad, over the years a few companies have nonetheless developed a relatively strong awareness in various countries. In particular, Lenovo has faired quite well in the majority of the surveyed countries.

	United States	Britain	Germany	Australia	Japan	South Korea	Brazil
1	Lenovo	Bank of China	Lenovo	Lenovo	Lenovo	Haier	Lenovo
2	Haier	Lenovo	Bank of China	Bank of China	Air China	Tsingtao Beer	Huawei
3	ICBC	Tsingtao Beer	Huawei	Huawei	Bank of China	SAIC Motor	Chery

4) Chinese products still regarded as "cheap" and not "high quality"

Although Chinese products are still widely considered "cheap" (particularly in Japan and South Korea), since the 2010 survey, the approval rating for the "cost performance" of Chinese products in foreign countries has improved ("cost performance" refers to a product's ability to deliver performance for its price). Regardless, the global opinion still does not view Chinese products as possessing "high technical content" or "high quality".

	United States	Britain	Germany	Australia	Japan	South Korea	Brazil
Cheap	57%	48%	49%	60%	91%	74%	68%
High Cost Performance	36%	44%	52%	42%	7%	9%	41%
General Quality	35%	27%	41%	37%	24%	29%	30%
High Technical Content	8%	23%	30%	11%	3%	3%	21%
High Quality	14%	17%	10%	12%	2%	3%	10%

Source: To read the full report (in English), check out the Ipsos website here. To read a summary of the report (in Chinese), check out the Global Entrepreneur website here.

 

Related links
Tips on How to Protect Your Intellectual Property Rights in China
Why Chinese Companies are Failing in the US Stock Market
6 of China’s Most Successful Foreign Businesses

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Keywords: Chinese companies global market foreign perception of Chinese companies Chinese brand awareness most popular Chinese brands