Haier Group, China's leading household appliances manufacturer, has become increasingly internationalized in its production and distribution.
According to Zhang Ruimin, chief executive officer of Haier, the group's designing, purchasing, manufacturing, marketing and financing operations have been greatly internationalized.
Haier has so far developed eight designing centers abroad, most of which are located in developed countries, according to Zhang.
Each day, Haier purchases 260,000 kinds of materials via the Internet and through public bidding, which not only helps Haier to get the best primary materials but also helps it to establish strategic partnerships with leading foreign firms.
In terms of production, Haier has built a dozen plants overseas, and also developed two industrial parks in the United States and Pakistan, respectively, which enable Haier to provide the latest products to consumers in those regions as promptly as possible.
Moreover, Haier has established over 40,000 sales sites and developed 12 foreign distribution companies overseas.
In 2001, Haier reported more than 60 billion yuan (about 7.2 billion U.S. dollars) in total sales volume, as a result of an annual increase rate of 78 percent during the past 17 years, company sources said.