BizChina

The richest man in China, beverage baron Zong Qinghou of Wahaha Group is ranked No. 103 on the global list of billionaires compared with No. 376 previously. Zong is worth $7 billion, compared with $1.9 billion last year.

Only a few years ago, an ugly legal dispute between China’s beverage giant Wahaha and joint venture partner Danone over the right to use the Wahaha brand had brought a cloud over both in China. With the dispute resolved last year, Wahaha is well-positioned to turn its attention to new products. Forbes talked to Chairman Zong in his office in China’s eastern city of Hangzhou about this year’s business outlook, new products and succession. Excerpts follow.

What’s the growth outlook for China’s beverage industry this year?

Zong Qinghou: The market will continue to grow more than 20%. The market has become concentrated--about five companies--Wahaha, Coke, Pepsi, Tingyi and President have more than half, and if you add in about 10 more firms, the total is 80%. The bigger companies will have a larger and larger market shares. Also, more and more companies will be looking to differentiate their product. China already has one of the largest number of drink varieties in the world, and this will continue.

GM's Buick display area in 2007 Shanghai Expo in the file photo taken in 2007.

Although it is facing the biggest challenge worldwide in its century old history, General Motors has found the Chinese market is giving it a glimpse of hope for business survival.

Last year, the US auto firm harvested record profits in China, benefiting from the robust economic growth in the country.

The US automaker reported 1.83 million units sold across the country, an increase of 67 percent from the previous year.

It compared with a 46 percent year-on-year increase for China's total automobile sales in 2009, spurred by the Chinese government's prompt stimulus package for the automobile industry amid global stagnation. The stimulus included halving taxes on smaller cars with an engine capacity of or less than 1.6-liters and subsidies for trading in old vehicles.

A row of Carrefour shopping trolleys at the entrance to a Beijing outlet of the French retailer. 

Retailer embarks on strategic expansion on the back of high sales

It's 1 am one day during this year's Spring Festival and hundreds of consumers are on a shopping spree, waiting in long queues, trolleys piled high with goods, at Carrefour's Tiantongyuan outlet in the Changping district of northern Beijing.

The night time craze was symbolic of the retail giant's strong performance in China. Claudio Gouveia, vice-president of Carrefour China and also general manager of the North Territory of Carrefour China, said the country has become one of the most significant and also fastest-growing markets for the retailer.

Scottish money managers' moves reflect shift in economic power

EDINBURGH: When Google Inc, owner of the most popular Internet search engine, said on Jan 12 it may close its website in China, Edinburgh money manager James Anderson sold the stock and bought Beijing-based rival Baidu Inc.

Since then, Baidu has risen 34 percent and Google has lost 8.5 percent. That kind of call helped propel Anderson's closed-end fund, Baillie Gifford & Co's 1.87 billion-pound ($2.8 billion) Scottish Mortgage Trust Plc, to the best performance among its UK peers over the past year.

A janitor cleans a metro station platform next to a Baidu.com Inc advertisement in Shanghai. Baidu shares have risen 34% since rival Google said on Jan 12 it may shut down its business in China.

"Google was admitting they had lost in China," said Anderson, who is Baillie Gifford's chief investment officer and responsible for 56 billion pounds in total. "It was revealing and added to the imputed value of Baidu."