Hisense looks to increase overseas TV revenues (2)

"Our share of the overseas market is still relatively low in terms of total revenue, and there is much room for improvement," Zhou said.

In 2012, Hisense's global revenues increased 20 percent year-on-year, with the US, Europe and Australia contributing most of that growth.

Over the past decade, its overseas sales revenue has grown 23-fold, and it now ranks, for instance, top in South Africa, and in the top five in Australia.

As well as the US, Zhou said Europe and Africa are hugely important markets for the company's global expansion.

Hisense entered the African market 20 years ago, and although demand is still not large, "that's certainly no reason for us to provide low-quality products in that market", he added.

He said Chinese brands have to be competitively priced to succeed in overseas markets, but their ability to compete should certainly not be based on price alone.

"For Chinese brands which have lower recognition overseas, such as Lenovo, it is not sensible for their products to be priced cheaper overseas than in their domestic market."

Therefore, he said, Chinese companies must focus on establishing brand image overseas right from the start, with a concentration not only on products and services, but on understanding local customers.