Chinese Enterprises Acquire German Companies to Deploy Global Markets

According to the report of German Voices, Chinese investors are looking forward to opening up new markets and mastering German expertise. Chinese investors have come to Germany to find companies that can acquire. The latest example is Lenovo's plan to acquire Medion, a German consumer electronics company. This is the first time that Chinese companies have targeted famous German companies. Experts believe that this trend will continue, but Germans need not be nervous.

Rudolf Wagner, a professor of Sinology at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, believes that China wants to take its place in the world market. He said that "the main purpose is to get production skills and engineering experience. If you buy a company can get these, and you can get a new export market, which is the best of both worlds." Chinese companies have been looking for strategic resources abroad. In the beginning, it was primarily interested in raw materials. The most popular products are high-end consumer goods and high-tech products that China does not have.

Professor Wagner estimates that there will be more Chinese companies investing in or acquiring German companies, especially large companies. But Germans do not have to be nervous. "I personally think this is a process of globalization of economic relations." He said that German companies are not very active in China.

Professor Wagner said that the attitude of the Chinese people is still positive at least. They believe that “acquisition of companies can bring technology, capital, market, management experience, and it is awesome!” China is currently lacking in management talent and experience, so the company is acquired. Later, the German senior management will usually continue to be employed. For these people, this is certainly a good thing, at least they can keep their positions.

Simona Thomas, an economics-Chinese scholar at the Free University of Berlin, also believes that there is no reason for the Germans to feel uneasy about this. "Making China's economy integrated into the world economy is not the goal of all countries over the past 30 years? All international companies are also investing in production in China or cooperating with Chinese companies." Now that China acquires German companies, it is only the next step in globalization.

Maximiliam Mayer, a Chinese expert at the University of Bonn, also believes this trend is unstoppable. "This is just the beginning. The future will be more. Simply put, the Chinese people's wallets are too much." China has acquired a lot of government bonds in heavily indebted Portugal or Greece.

Mayer pointed out that most Chinese companies make large sums of money in their own countries and now want to be internationalized. So in the long run, they are interested in German companies and German brands. “Most Chinese companies are not really famous in the United States or the European market. If you can use a well-known brand now and you can control it, you can increase his popularity. For this purpose, it is better to buy these large-scale products. Famous company."

Mayer believes that Chinese investors can even guarantee German job opportunities. If the acquisition increases the market share of the product in Europe, the company will need more German employees working in the sales and marketing department. However, the production department has long since moved to China.