Chinese Exporters Look to Sell in the Home Market
As global sales slump, mainland manufacturers are competing with multinationals to market to hard-pressed Chinese consumers
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Over the past three decades hundreds of thousands of small factories making everything from rivets to refrigerators have popped up across China. While competition was always cutthroat, many of these companies—both domestic and foreign-owned—prospered by avoiding the brutal domestic scrum and selling abroad.
But with overseas consumers reining in spending, Chinese manufacturers are now piling into the crowded domestic market. "Competitors are coming out of the woodwork," says Frank Rexach, Asia chief for Michigan-based office furniture maker Haworth, which faces a slew of new rivals that once sold primarily to such foreign giants as Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) and Office Depot (ODP).