Leading global retailers and industrial manufacturers purchase billions of dollars worth of made-in-China commodities every year, becoming a major force for promoting Chinese goods on international markets.

Chinese people may not be familiar with the names of Kingfisher and Karstadt Quelle, but they are among the retail giants, including Wal-mart, Carrefour and METRO, helping distribute China-made commodities worldwide through retailing.

Since China is perhaps the only country in the world that can manufacture nearly every type of commodity, major retailers cannot afford to overlook either selling or purchasing in China, said a purchasing executive with the French Carrefour.

Carrefour's purchases of Chinese goods this year is expected to be 50 percent more than the US$1.3 billion it spent last year, and could reach US$2.6 billion in 2004, said Philippe Legru, global purchasing manager of Carrefour.

World-class industrial producers such as General Electric (GE), General Motors and Motorola annually order some US$1 to 2 billion worth parts and equipment in China for the production of their brand-name products.

GE plans to move more of its Asian headquarters of its subsidiary companies to China by 2005, when the total Chinese purchases of the world's electric giant would reach US$5 billion, said James Fisher, president and CEO of GE's Industrial Systems in the Asia-Pacific region, which just moved its Asia headquarters to Shanghai in July.

As one of the purchasing centers in China that are appealing to foreign companies, Shanghai is expected to see purchases by transnationals increasing to US$8 billion by 2003 and US$50 billion in 2010.

The global cross-country purchasing sector posts a 7-8 percent annual growth rate, which creates a big opportunity for China's manufacturing industry.

Professor Fan Gang, an economic advisor to the State Council, said that Chinese firms could learn from this process of selling to transnationals, which can help them accumulate capital, upgrade technology and improve marketing and management standards.

At this stage, China should take hold of the opportunity afforded by the restructuring of the global manufacturing industry and the purchasing network, said Fan.

China is set to see a growing share of the global markets, especially at a time when the economies of developed countries are slowing down, their consumption is pegged and the world's retailing channels are multiplying, said a German businessman in China.

Chi Xiaoguang, purchasing manager of British Invensys-Energy Management Division's Asia Region, said that a growing number of Chinese enterprises are attending to export-oriented business with stronger international competition awareness than before.

With a mobile phone in hand, some Chinese exporters are able to make swift reactions to global market changes 24 hours a day. Chinese textile exporters, for example, need only a few days to switch material or fashions in batch production to keep up with changing trends.

Chinese commodities are generally considered to have an edge on the world market in terms of variety, low price and flexibility in adapting to market climate changes.

What attracts foreign purchasers is that although Chinese commodities are mostly middle or low-end products, the quality is generally good and the price competitive. Variety is a new advantage coming with the break up of state-owned companies' monopoly in foreign trade.

(Xinhua News Agency September 30, 2002)