ABSTRACT
Generations of distribution experience and control have enabled these sizeable – and often very powerful – Chinese-led conglomerates to develop. Moving upward through the supply chain via accumulated capital assets, these ethnic Chinese have progressed into broader business activities such as manufacturing and finance. The Thai-Chinese group Charoen Pokphand – to take one example – has in this way shifted its focus from trade per se and expanded into commercial operations as
diverse as the automotive sector, telecommunications, banking and petrochemicals (Speece and Igel, 2000). Perhaps more importantly, such conglomerates often hold many of the contacts and much of the market weight with which foreign multinationals are so keen to become associated. The vast majority of indigenous ASEAN joint venture partners are Chinese owned or controlled, able to flex the strength of their local “ground-floor” influence upon the all-important domestic supply chain.
