Chinese Companies Find Their Niche
XIAOLAN, China -- Liang Boqiang set up St. Allen's Co. here in 1998 to manufacture a product few businessmen at the time deemed worthy of attention: nail clippers. Virtually unnoticed, he quietly built up the business to become China's biggest nail-clipper maker, churning out tens of millions each year.
St. Allen's is among hundreds of little-known Chinese companies that since the mid-1990s have quickly emerged to corner niche markets in China and globally. Dubbed "hidden champions" by the local media, they have succeeded by tapping into China's inexpensive labor, investing in innovation and quality -- and focusing on sectors neglected or overlooked by others.
Many have wiped longstanding foreign and domestic competitors from the Chinese market. Among the global sectors where they dominate are container construction [China International Marine Containers (Group) Co.] and rongalite, a chemical used in dyeing (Guangdong Zhongcheng Chemicals Co.). Their emergence in some ways reflects the maturation of China's private sector. Many entrepreneurs who first began operating in China in the late 1970s, after Beijing introduced market policies to replace central planning, lacked long-term vision, jumping from one sector to another in search of fast profits.
By the mid-1990s, as Beijing relaxed restrictions on the private sector, many private companies had gained both capital and experience. Instead of diversifying widely, they began to focus on one sector, developing economies of scale, establishing market channels and accumulating technical know-how. They proved more nimble than state-run enterprises and more knowledgeable than foreign rivals when it came to targeting local market trends. Their lower prices helped them seize market share.
Take playing cards: Chinese have long been avid card players, but 15 years ago, most decks sold here were flimsy and poorly printed. The companies producing them each had a tiny sliver of the domestic market. High-quality imported cards, meanwhile, sold for several dollars a deck, unaffordable for most Chinese.
Yao Wenchen, a former sporting-goods-company manager, decided to produce quality cards at prices local consumers could afford. Set up in 1994, his Shanghai-based Yuchen Playing Card Industry Co. priced decks at the equivalent of slightly more than a quarter -- a bit more than local rivals' prices but much lower than foreign ones. After cornering the Chinese market, Yuchen has expanded into Southeast Asia and the U.S., including supplying Las Vegas casinos. Today, the company produces 300 million decks a year, or 12% of the world's total, says Yuchen export manager Tang Jian.
Some companies owe their fast success in part to timing. As rapid market changes have sparked a surge in crime in China, for example, police have increased patrols and modernized aging equipment. One benefactor: Senken Industrial Co., which makes police lights, sirens and horns. Set up in 1990 in the eastern province of Zhejiang, Senken has grown amid demand for such innovations as its streamlined siren bar, which the company says cuts wind resistance. Today, Senken has more than half of the China market, says China's Police Equipment Standardization and Technology Commission.
Elbowing their way abroad, China's niche kings sometimes run into resistance from foreign rivals. After Washington lifted quotas on Chinese-made oil-painting canvas in the wake of China's accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001, Chinese companies such as Phoenix Artist Materials Co. flooded the U.S. with canvas that compared in quality with U.S.-made canvas but was notably less expensive. Chinese canvas sales to the U.S. rocketed fivefold from 2002 to 2004, to $6.9 million, according to U.S. government statistics.
Today, Phoenix and three other Chinese canvas makers face an antidumping investigation by Washington, following complaints by Tara Materials Inc., a Georgia manufacturer of Fredrix Artist Canvas. The result could be punitive tariffs of as much as 244%. Phoenix, which describes itself as the world's largest canvas producer, with one-fifth of the global market, is looking to beef up sales in other markets, "but we won't let the U.S. market go lightly," vows deputy general manager Zou Bin. He says Phoenix has hired Seattle law firm Garvey Schubert Barer to help fight the dumping charges.
The founder of St. Allen's thrived on challenge from the beginning. An entrepreneur who once sold ice cream and made costume jewelry, Mr. Liang turned his focus to nail clippers in 1998 after reading in a local newspaper about former Premier Zhu Rongji's complaint that "no matter how much strength I use, [Chinese-made] nail clippers can't clip after two days."
Unlike other Chinese clipper makers, Mr. Liang put a premium on quality. Today, St. Allen's clippers claim two-thirds of China's high-end market and one-third of the overall market, says the China National Hardware Association. Mr. Liang predicts his company's sales will more than double to $60 million by 2007 from $24 million in 2004.
“小器”也能成大业
梁伯强1998年在广东中山市的小榄镇成立了圣雅伦公司(St. Allen's Co.)，生产当时没有几个商人看好的产品：指甲刀。不声不响之间，他已把这家企业发展成中国最大的指甲刀生产商，每年的产量高达数千万只。
圣雅伦公司是从90年代中期开始迅速成为中国乃至全球专业市场中坚力量的数百家默默无闻的中国企业之一。当地媒体称之为“隐形冠军”，他们利用中国廉价的劳动力，投资进行创新和提高质量，并大力开拓为其他人所忽视的领域。
许多公司已经让那些长期占据市场的国内外竞争对手从中国市场上销声匿迹，比如集装箱制造行业的中国国际海运集装箱(集团)公司(China International Marine Containers (Group) Co. Ltd.)和保险粉（一种用于染色的化学品）行业的广东中成化工公司(Guangdong Zhongcheng Chemicals Co.)。
他们的崛起在某种程度上反映出中国民营企业的不断成熟。在70年代末中国改革开放后，许多企业家开始创业，他们缺乏长远眼光，经常从一个行业跳到另一个行业中寻找快速致富的机会。到了90年代中期，随著中国政府放宽对私有企业的限制，许多私有企业也积累了更多的资金和经验。他们放弃了多元化经营的想法，开始关注一个行业，发展规模经济，建立市场渠道，积累技术知识。他们比国营企业更加敏锐，比海外对手更了解中国市场的趋势。低廉的价格帮助他们抢占了市场。
以扑克牌来说：中国人一直都非常喜欢打牌，但15年前，中国国内出售的大部分扑克牌容易损坏，印刷质量也很差。众多生产商分别占据著一小部分国内市场。而高质量的进口扑克则要卖到几美元一副，非普通中国人所能承受。
姚文琛曾是一家体育用品公司的经理，他决定以本地消费者能够接受的价格生产优质扑克牌。1994年，他成立了上海宇琛扑克实业有限公司(Yuchen Playing Card Industry Co.)，将扑克的价格定在略高于国内竞争对手，但远低于海外产品的水平上。在占领了国内市场后，宇琛扑克又进入了东南亚和美国市场，其中包括为拉斯维加斯的赌场提供扑克。宇琛扑克的外贸部经理唐建说，目前，该公司年产扑克3亿副，占全球总产量的12%。
部分公司认为它们快速成功的原因之一在于机遇。比如，由于向市场经济的迅速转变带来了犯罪率的上升，公安部门增加了警力，并更换老化过时的警械。其中一个受益者就是浙江星际实业股份有限公司(Senken Industrial Co.)，该公司1990年成立，主要生产警灯、警报器和喇叭。星际实业进行的一系列创新为其赢得了需求，比如，该公司称革新后的警车扬声器能够有效地减少风阻。中国警用装备标准化技术委员会(China's Police Equipment Standardization and Technology Commission)称，目前星际实业在中国市场的占有率超过了50%。
在开拓海外市场的过程中，中国的这些专业市场大王经常会遇到来自海外竞争者的阻力。在中国2001年加入世界贸易组织(World Trade Organization)后，美国取消了中国产油画布的配额，无锡凤凰画材有限公司(Phoenix Artist Materials Co.)等中国企业生产的油画布大量涌入美国市场，这些产品的质量与美国产油画布相当，但价格却要便宜得多。根据美国政府统计数字，中国产油画布对美国的出口额在2002至2004年间增加了400%，达到690万美元。
现在，由于Fredrix Artist Canvas画布的生产商Tara Materials Inc.提出了指控，凤凰画材和其它三家中国油画布厂家正面临著美国政府的反倾销调查。结果可能会是征收最高244%的惩罚性关税。凤凰画材正在寻求提高在其它市场的销售。该公司称其是世界最大的画布生产商，占据了全球五分之一的市场。“但我们不会轻易将美国拱手相让，”凤凰画材的副总经理邹彬表示。他说，凤凰画材已经聘请了西雅图律师事务所Garvey Schubert Barer帮助准备抗辩事宜。
圣雅伦公司的创始人从一开始就面临著诸多挑战。梁伯强曾卖过冰淇淋，也做过人造首饰生意，在看到本地报纸一篇报导称前总理朱
