Opportunity or threat
Last weekend I received an innocuous looking post facto graph from a friend. The chart depicted how the Chinese companies have gained prominence during the first two decades of the twenty-first century. Evidently, these developments have already occurred and are there for everyone to see and feel. There is nothing about this that can be changed. The graph depicts that the number of Chinese companies in the Fortune Global 500 list have grown from 10 in 2000 to 121 in 2020, a 12.1x rise in two decades. Three Chinese companies now figure in the list of top 10 global companies. The new 111 Chinese entrants in the coveted list mostly replaced the companies from the US (55) and Japan (54). Besides the US and Japan, companies from the major European economies (Britain, Germany and France) have also fallen in their global rankings. The top 10 ranked global companies are an interesting mix. The list is topped by two retailers ( Walmart , 1, USA; Amazon , 2, USA). Besides, it comprises – one...