Leaders | Going global

Chinese companies are winning the global south

Their expansion abroad holds important lessons for Western incumbents

Businesspeople parachuting from the sky with the Chinese flag
image: Patrick Leger

Since the end of the cold war the rich world’s corporate giants have been the dominant force in global commerce. Today consumers and workers in almost every country are touched in some way by the world-spanning operations of multinational firms from America, Europe and, to a lesser extent, Japan. These leviathans are now under threat, as Chinese firms in industries from cars to clothing expand abroad with startling speed. A new commercial contest has begun. Its battleground is neither China nor the rich world, but the fast-growing economies of the global south.

Explore more

From the August 3rd 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Leaders

Four test tubes in the shape of human figures, connected hand in hand, partially filled with a blue liquid. A dropper adds some liquid to the last figure

How to improve clinical trials

Involving more participants can lead to new medical insights

Container ship at sunrise in the Red Sea

Houthi Inc: the pirates who weaponised globalisation

Their Red Sea protection racket is a disturbing glimpse into an anarchic world


Donald Trump will upend 80 years of American foreign policy

A superpower’s approach to the world is about to be turned on its head


Rising bond yields should spur governments to go for growth

The bond sell-off may partly reflect America’s productivity boom

Much of the damage from the LA fires could have been averted

The lesson of the tragedy is that better incentives will keep people safe