These companies, however, are not satisfied merely with the advantages

of their domestic market. They take a different strategic approach to the

majority of their competitors on the home market. They differ in four main

considerations:

Firstly, they invest in research and development (R&D). Worldwide, com-

panies invest an average of five percent of their sales in research and devel-

opment. Chinese companies rarely invest this much and thus produce few

innovations. Companies with international ambitions have recognized this

and invest more in R&D than their domestic competitors, in some cases up

to ten percent of sales.