Ethnic Chinese at the fore of Asia's business order
Ethnic Chinese at the fore of Asia's business order
SINGAPORE (AFP): China's emergence as a global economic power has put companies controlled by ethnic Chinese families at the forefront of Asia's new business order, a regional study has found.
Ethnic Chinese family interests dominate economies from the former British powerhouse of Hong Kong to rapidly developing Indonesia and their influence is firmly tied to the rise of China, the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy said in a report received here this weekend.
But Beijing's increasing awareness of its own power is eroding the value of traditional connections, or "guangxi," as pragmatic mainlanders seek profitable partnerships rather than ones based on race and common culture, it noted.
"Although overseas Chinese investment has been a major reason behind China's rapid modernization to date, it could be a mistake to assume that overseas Chinese will continue to have the inside edge in China," it added.
"From where we sit, the inside edge is held by state-run Chinese conglomerates, a growing number of which are starting to operate more like commercial companies and less like inefficient bureaucracies."
Fear of China in the West is also proving a hindrance to Asian firms controlled by ethnic Chinese families, the report said, citing the Indonesian-based Lippo Group's role in a U.S. presidential campaign contribution scandal.
Success
"It showed how Asia's biggest success stories are losing one of their most valuable assets -- their anonymity, which has enabled them to invest outside their home countries without carrying the same nationalistic baggage a typical U.S., Japanese or German investor has had to shoulder," the report said.
"All of a sudden, ethnic Chinese businessmen have become a group to watch and be wary of. This could inhibit their ability to move freely on the global business stage."
In Hong Kong, it added, the term "hong" had gone beyond being simply a label for the British trading houses on which the territory was founded.
It is now used at least as often regarding conglomerates owned by ethnic Chinese, such as Li Ka-shing's Cheung Kong empire or Lee Shau-kee's Henderson Land property giant.
In Malaysia, the report noted, more than two decades of official policies favoring ethnic Malays had failed to substantially dent the ethnic Chinese dominance of big business.
Quek Leng Chan's diverse Hong Leong group and Lim Goh Tong's Genting gaming empire are the two most prominent family-owned businesses in Malaysia, it said.
A notable exception to the roll-call of big companies owned by ethnic Chinese families was the Philippine Ayala Group, founded by Spaniards.