Of late, many experts have observed the expansion of Chinese companies in international markets, and more importantly the rise of their role in international economic processes. In the framework of "Go Out" policy initiated in 2002, Chinese companies are actively buying foreign assets in the energy, banking, and telecommunications sectors. This strategy arouses concerns in many countries, especially in the West.

The effort of CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Corporation) to obtain the American Unocal, a leading American energy company, in 2005 was the first attempt by a Chinese company to buy foreign assets that was significantly discussed in the international media. Unocal had rights for oil and gas exploration in Southeast and Central Asia and CNOOC offered US$18.5 billion to buy the company, but the US Congress blocked CNOOC's bid and favored the American energy giant Chevron, though Chevron offered much less at US$17 billion. This fact shows that Washington considered the Chinese company's activities as a threat to its own energy security and Congress's decision to block the proposal was a political decision that did not make economic sense. As a side note, the bid offered by CNOOC was the largest bid in the history of Chinese companies.

Also in 2005, another Chinese energy company, the CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation) made its biggest acquisition outside China proper. The company bought the Canadian oil company PetroKazakhstan for US$4.2 billion, with its oil fields in Kazakhstan. The next important Chinese acquisition in the energy sector was the assets of British gas giant, British Gas (BG). For BG's 0.46 per cent assets the National Bank of China paid US$150 million. British analysts are forecasting that in the future China will increase its share holding in BG. The purchase of oil and gas companies and fields abroad is aimed at providing a stable and systematic external supply of energy resources for the Chinese economy.

In the IT sphere, one of the leading Chinese IT companies Lenovo for US$1.25 billion purchased the PC subdivision of the American company, IBM. According to Lenovo company officials, this deal served as a big impulse to strengthen its positions in world IT market, since after the purchase Lenovo became world's number three producer of PCs, after Dell and Hewlett-Packard. Moreover according to company officials, by 2010 Lenovo will take the first place among world's top IT companies displacing Dell and Hewlett-Packard. This deal again caused popular and political discontent in the United States; China was criticized for its invasion of American IT markets. Taking into consideration that IT is one of the fast- developing commercial spheres, with added strategic importance, there is no doubt that it is China's intention to strengthen its position in world IT market and get access to high technology.

At the same time, another characteristic feature of the strengthening of Chinese companies in Western markets is the large-scale stock floatation of Chinese companies in international stock exchanges. For example, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) during its initial public offering (IPO) managed to generate about US$20 billion in investments, the largest amount in investment history. This achievement allowed ICBC to rank 3rd in the list of the top 10 corporations of the world with a high rate of stock exchange capitalization. Two other leading Chinese companies, China Mobile and PetroChina have also been added to the list. Today, China's stock market with its US$1 trillion volume is the third largest in Asia, after Japan's (US$4.8 trillion) and Hong Kong's (US$2.1 trillion). In the banking sector, the China Development Bank, by investing US$13 billion, purchased a considerable proportion of the shares of the prominent British bank, Barclays. This shows that China has some ambitions of becoming one of the world's financial centers and be an active player in international finance.

It is significant that most Chinese corporations functioning so actively abroad are state-owned and are subject to the Chinese government's regulations on their policy and activity. This means, that the external economic activities of the companies are based not only on commercial, but on political interests as well. These political interests are part of a long-term strategy of development and protection of the national security of China.

However, this policy of strengthening the position and image of Chinese companies in international markets is often undermined by Western media and political institutions, which are critical of Chinese products for their low quality. For example, a year ago the European Union and the US rejected millions of Chinese toys because according to their investigation Chinese products did not comply with their respective national standards. According to several experts, such criticisms and rejections have only political and economic reasons. The West consider Chinese products as a rival to its own products, and so by setting negative perceptions of products made in China through the media, Western companies try to decrease demands for Chinese products. However, taking into consideration the sustained high rate of economic growth with a parallel increase in the gold and monetary reserves of China, which bankrolls the strategy aimed at purchasing Western assets and strengthening China's position in world markets, it will be hard to thwart China's economic outreach.