WTO,并购与中国经济全球化

WTO,Merger/Acquisition And Globalization of Chinese Economy

1999年年末,中国与美国达成协议,加盟WTO的最大障碍终于逾越,“入关”顿成国民关注的焦点。中国企业开始认真地考虑全球化环境中的定位及发展战略了,中国政府开始在一个开放的平台上研究重大经济政策与法律了。在经受了全球化观念冲击之后,在感受了入关压力和行业危机之后,人们正在考虑一个更为现实的操作问题,即入关以后,跨国企业或全球企业(Global Company)将运用WTO的规定来进攻中国市场,或反过来,中国企业同样地运用WTO的规定来应防或冲出国门。那么,什么样的战略是最为经济的方式呢? 价格竞争。

China and US finally reached agreement close to the end of 1999, thus put behind a major obstacle toward China's full membership at the WTO. Since then, WTO has become a focal point among average citizens, and all forms of media are discussing the pros and cons of joining WTO for different industry sectors. Many of their opinions are noteworthy. It seems that finally the Chinese people will face globalization squarely, Chinese companies will start to seriously assess global conditions and work out due strategies, and Chinese government will be working on an open platform toward new economic policies and regulations. Aside from all these excitements, after experiencing the impact of the new global concept, and anticipating crisis that is going to engulf many industries, there lurks a general sense of anxiety. People are thinking in terms of practical measures. That is, after China's admittance, multinationals and Global companies will make full use of WTO rules to crack open China's market, or conversely, Chinese companies will take advantage of the same rules to defend their market shares and to further their ambitions on the Global market. So what strategy is the most economically optimum strategy?Price competition is obviously the most convenient. But excessive and prolonged application of price-cutting could accumulate many negative side effects, such as hostilityfrom within the industry sector or even the risk of evoking consumer repulsion.Product and service competition seems to be a good news WTO brings to consumers in third-world countries. But this assumption needs to be adopted by the local consumer culture.Competition for local talents will be intensified. But even if foreign companies are capable of lumping together all the local technical elite (a practical impossibility), such basic obstacles as the indigenous social, organizational and managerial traditions will still be restrictive.Market share expansions and competitions will become white-hot. This type of competition however, is constricted by available technology, related regulations and time.The only way to transcend the aforementioned limitations and restrictions, and the most economical way, is merger/ acquisition. China is on the way to a period of mass M&A:* Global companies will start across-the-board acquisitions in China. No matter state owned or private, as long as the target companies fit in global companies' global development plan, they will be snatched up fast.* Chinese companies must consolidate, which applies to both state owned and private ones. They must merge to build up core industries, core technologies and core products, either through top-down reorganization of bottom-up M&A. The goal is to build up large conglomerates with enough competitive prowess to defend themselves.* M&A is not simply a matter of numerical addition. It can be beneficial to both parties involved. Therefore, potential candidates, either global companies or Chinese enterprises, shall tread carefully toward globalization, focusing on innovative products and services.The following are a few examples of M&A 1999 (Quoted values are in US Dollar unless otherwise specified):* AT&T acquired Media One for 63.1 billion.In a nutshell, global M&A of 1999 has the following characteristics: 1. Global companies have replaced multinationals. Global companies emphasize allocating resources and capabilities globally. World economy is no longer a combination of national economies, but a combination of global companies without clear national identities. Merger/acquisition further abetted this global strategy which transcends national borders. When a company's core products, technologies or services are handled and assembled by subsidiaries located in different countries, M&A must break away from the restrictions of national economies and become global.2. The value of some global companies is fast approaching or even surpassing many countries' GDP. The global market and its requirement for scale economy put many M&A deal's total value beyond the GDP of many small or medium size cou