PARIS: It wasfear of being dominated by a Chinese behemoth that sparked an attempt by largeFrench and German rail companies to join forces to create a European industrialchampion. The merger by Alstom and Siemens was vetoed by the EU on Thursday,but concerns about the overwhelming power of vast, often state-backed Chinesecompanies is not limited to the rail industry. Here are some of areas in whichChinese companies control a large piece of the global market.
Rail
China'sstate-backed CRRC is the world's largest train manufacturer, with locomotivesand wagons ordered across the globe from Boston to Philadelphia, Cambodia toColombia, and customers including the iconic London Underground and Germany'sDeutsche Bahn. Its annual revenues of 26 billion euros (29 billion dollars)alone outweigh the three Western heavyweights Bombardier, Siemens and Alstom,each of which brings in around nine billion a year.
Agrichemicals
The state-ownedChemChina became one of the world's seeds and pesticide producers when itacquired Swiss pesticide giant Syngenta for $43 billion in 2017, putting it incompetition with Monsanto and DowDupont. It was the biggest overseasacquisition by a Chinese firm yet, ahead of the $15.1 billion purchase ofCanada's Nexen Energy by China's state oil firm CNOOC in 2013. ChemChina alsocontrols Italian tyremaker Pirelli and German machinery firm KraussMaffei.
Energy
The state-runChina National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) launched its locally developed Hualong Onenuclear reactor in 2015 to compete with French and US models, selling toArgentina and Pakistan. Chinese solar panel manufacturers Jinko, Trina andSolar dominate the global market. And Chinese oil companies-CNOOC, CNPC andSinopec-are investing heavily even as their global rivals cut spending.
Aviation
China'sstate-owned plane-maker Comac expects to deliver its first home-made passengerjet to a customer in 2021, as it seeks to challenge the dominance of Boeing andAirbus. The company says it has received a thousand orders for its 168-seaterC919 plane.
Food
The state-ownedfood giant COFCO is playing an increasing role in world grain trading afterpurchasing the agricultural arm of Singaporean commodities trader Noble as wellas Dutch Nidera. China's WH Group became the world's largest meat producer in2013, when it purchased major hot dog producer Smithfield Foods Inc.
Drones
Founded by aChinese university student in 2006, DJI has become the world's top civiliandrone maker with 70 percent of the market, outpacing its French rival Parrot.
Smartphones
Chinesesmartphone makers are taking a larger slice of the global market, with Huaweiat 15 percent, Xiaomi 8.7 percent and Oppo 8.1 percent. Phone sales by Huaweiand Oppo surged by 30 percent last year, defying a downward trend that hitrivals Apple and Samsung.
Homeappliances
China's HaierGroup is the world's leading manufacturer of home appliances with around 10percent of the market, ahead of rivals Whirlpool and Electrolux. Haier even purchased the appliances arm of USgiant General Electric in 2016.
Batteries
Chinese firmCATL, which supplies batteries for car titans Volkswagen, Ford and Daimler, isbattling with Japan's Panasonic for the world's lithium electric car batterytop spot. Its production capacity will increase fivefold by 2020 due to amammoth new factory in China, and the firm has announced a huge factory inGermany to supply European customers.
Freight
The state-ownedCosco Group is the world's third biggest shipping company with 50 containerports across the globe, including Greece's Piraeus and Spain's Bilbao. - AFP