ABSTRACT
The really big shift, however, is the dramatic restructuring that has taken place in the Chinese economy. Starting in Taiwan and spreading out from there, the new image of the Chinese diaspora economy is of a substantial shift towards computer-based and high-tech sectors. By far the most important is annual list of the 500 largest Chinese privately-owned business groups outside China produced by the international Chinese-language weekly Yazhou Zhoukan from Hong Kong. Despite the increasing number of Chinese corporations listed on the region’s stock exchanges, the majority remain tightly under the control of entrepreneurial families. The preference for a number of separate companies rather than consolidation into a single business organisation is another hallmark of Chinese business. The most obvious change is in the economic geography of the Chinese sphere. Taiwan has dramatically increased in importance.
