Link in the global chain

LI & FUNG used to introduce western retailers of clothes, toys and the like to the sweatshops of China. As such, it was no different from countless Chinese firms: eclipsed by western trading empires such as Jardine Matheson for much of the 20th century and (so it seemed) by the disintermediation wrought by the Internet at the century's end. But when Victor and William Fung, the brothers who today run the family business, sat down to think about globalisation and what it means for Asia, they came up with a winning new strategy for their company.