ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the major issues in globalization and appraises the strategies of Chinese businesses. The transformation from a Marxist to a market economy has introduced impressive growth as well as concerns over China's lack of business and political ethics in ventures in Asia and Africa. The chapter focuses on globalization since 1980, through a series of short case studies of major Chinese corporations. China's phenomenal growth has been accompanied by a huge appetite for natural resources, and the expansion into territories in Africa and Latin America raises serious ethical issues. Under the World Trade Organization agreement, China agreed to reduce industrial and agricultural tariffs, while granting trade and distribution rights to foreign enterprises within China. China assisted in construction of pipelines, overland from Myanmar to China. Charoen Pokphand was the largest overseas Chinese investor in China. Singapore's direct collaboration with China was initiated in 1994 through the Suzhou Industrial Park scheme, which focused on software training and transfer programmes.
