Overseas Chinese firms should better integrate into foreign communities, businessman lawmaker urges
- NPC deputy Li Dongsheng – founder of electronics giant TCL – pushes multinationals to embrace globalisation rather than following the opposite current trend
- Li says recent restructuring of Ministry of Science and Technology will further enhance the status of enterprises as China’s main bodies of innovation
In the face of deglobalisation, with the world becoming less interconnected, Chinese multinationals should strive to uphold the tenets of economic globalisation while embracing localisation in their overseas operations, according to a prominent Chinese businessman and lawmaker.
Li Dongsheng, a deputy to the National People’s Congress (NPC) and founder and chairman of Chinese electronics giant TCL Technology, also recommends that Chinese companies investing overseas strengthen local research and development initiatives, production, sales and services, and do a better job of integrating into the surrounding communities.
“[Chinese companies] should make contributions to the economic and social developments of the host countries,” Li said in a written reply to the Post.
The past 15 years saw large amounts of outbound investment among Chinese enterprises as they expanded business globally, but some such efforts were marred in controversy – with operations coming under fire from local residents over various concerns, including environmental and societal.
Despite various challenges, Li said he is still confident in the future of globalisation, as a relatively complete global supply chain has formed based on the division of labour among all countries and economies.
“The interconnection, interdependence and mutual complementarity of the global economy is still an irreversible trend,” Li said.
