Internationalisation to China. Chances and risks for German multinational corporations, operating in the healthcare sector

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2015 in the subject Business economics - Operations Research, grade: 2.0, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, language: English, abstract: 'The risk of missing out on China is greater than the risk of doing business in this country' (Heinrich von Pierer, former Siemens CEO and chairman of the supervisory board). The primary objective of every financial, industrial or commercial business enterprise on the globe is to strive for profit maximisation. To realise this particular goal, corporations have to extend their operations across international borders. After the death of Mao Zedong and since the enforcement of an 'open door' policy in 1978, the People's Republic of China has developed into an attractive investment destination with an enormous economic potential. Since the economic liberalisation of the country, and the transition from a centrally planned economy into a market economy, China has become a popular business partner for national and international business enterprises. Those companies which decided at an early stage to diversify trade and investments into emerging markets such as China have benefited from generating high sales volumes and impressive profit rates on a long-term scale. The uniqueness of the People's Republic of China lies in the combination of economic growth, the size of the country, a thirst for knowledge and the maintenance of its political stability. Many western corporations are aware of the strategic opportunities that open up when doing business in China, the Middle Kingdom. However, a large number of national and internationally operating companies from different industrial sectors are facing major challenges, when it comes to making foreign investments in China.