But they were not discussing the husbands and wives they left at home with the children, rather the wedding of traditional Chinese business methods and new international practices.

Multinational managers, heads of leading Chinese enterprises and senior economic experts disclosed their marital secrets at the debate entitled "Modes of Entry: To Partner Or Not Is The Question" at the 2002 BusinessWeek Forum in Tianjin.

Tim Chen, president of Motorola (China) Electronics, raised the metaphor while discussing the bonding of indigenous enterprises and overseas capital, adding that life after "marriage" was satisfying.

Motorola (China) Electronics is the largest joint-venture in China with an annual output of 4.9 billion U.S. dollars.

"The fruits like profits and efficiency will be surely achieved with sufficient communication, common goals and common strategies," Chen said.

However, another debater proposed that marriage was outdated, citing multinationals like Intel, Dell and Coca-Cola as examples.

Paul Dipaola, managing director of the Bain & Company (China), believed that China's deepening opening-up would minimize the dependence of overseas investment on indigenous enterprises and it had been a trend for overseas investors to control joint-ventures through purchasing and merging.

Zhu Yanfeng, general manager and CEO of the FAW Group of China, retorted that Chinese enterprises could still act as "tour guides" for overseas capital, and of course they can read not only road signs, but also local market resources, culture and trade relationships.

The FAW Group had cooperated with foreign investors for 15 years, and set up 27 joint ventures in China.

Zhu said partnership would benefit both sides and Chinese indigenous enterprises could help localize multinationals and at the same time improve their own international competition.

Dr. Wang Zhile, director of the International Trade and Economics Institute affiliated to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC), said that foreign investors would invest more in China since more industries were open to them including banks, securities, insurance and telecommunications.

Meanwhile many indigenous enterprises possessed the strength to compete internationally, for example, in the telecommunications industry many enterprises had annual revenues over three billion U.S. dollars, like Shenzhen Huawei Technology Company and Datang Micro-electric Corporation.

Supachai Panitchpakdi, director general-designate of the WTO, predicted that China would rank as the fifth largest trade economy in the next ten years.

The forum also encompasses other topics, including China's advantages in attracting investment after its WTO entry, reform of Chinese state-owned enterprises and Chinese influence over the whole Asian economy.

(Xinhua News Agency May 10, 2002)