Leading Power - the Leading Path of Enterprises, Cities and Countries

Editor-in-chief: Li Bin

Publisher: Publishing House of Electronics Industry

From 3D printing to gene editing and synthetic biology, from the increasingly interconnected internet to the economy and society and the large-scale application of the Internet of Things, human society has never experienced profound technological changes as it is experiencing today.

In some high-tech industries, China is shifting its role from follower to competitive contestant and even becoming a leader. In the past three years, the authors of Leading Power conducted their fieldwork in cities, such as Beijing the “Unicorn City,” where unicorn companies have emerged constantly; the “Dream City” Shenzhen that grasped every opportunity of the age; and the “Smart City” Qingdao, which added the smart gene to traditional manufacturing. 

To reveal how leading businesses are formed, they approached enterprises, such as Huawei, Haier, BYD, Huada Gene and BOE, and interviewed entrepreneurs, such as Ren Zhengfei, founder and president of Huawei; Zhang Ruimin, CEO of Haier; Wang Chuanfu, president of BYD; Wang Jian, president of Huada Gene, and Lei Jun, founder of Xiaomi Technology.

Leading power is a collection of works, yet it is beyond the scope of any collection. The more than 10 companies analyzed in the book-whether they are already world-renowned companies like Huawei, Haier, BYD, Xiaomi Techonology and Huada Gene, or newcomers, such as MoBike and Horizon Robotics-have one thing in common: they have become or are becoming leaders in a field. Among these enterprises, Huawei has been “engaged in one field for 28 years;” the BOE has been specialized in the “port” for 20 years; Huada Gene has developed from a participant of the world Human Genome Project, to be able to design its own sequencer, and thus makes China become one of the two countries that are able to produce commercial sequencers. 

A powerful country can foster powerful enterprises. Over the past 40 years of reform and opening up, the growth of the market economy and sweeping global changes brought by new round of revolutions of industry, science and technology, boosted an unprecedented numbers of enterprises with international competitiveness and global perspectives.

These companies have emerged as the driving force for China’s prosperity. On July 20, 2017, Fortune Global released the latest round of the Fortune 500 rankings of global enterprises. The number of listed companies in China increased for the fourteenth consecutive year to 115, in which Chinese mainland and Hong Kong had 109 businesses, second only to the United States, which had 132. 

From a global perspective, the world economy is still in a period of profound adjustment after the global financial crisis. All countries are making every effort to seize the commanding heights of the new round of industrial development. Whether or not China can become a “leading” country, and a “powerhouse for modernization” lies in whether it can seize the historic opportunity.