第三篇 Passage 3

Over the past decade, TCL Corp. has turned itself from a small household electrical appliances factory that started with a capital of 5,000 yuan into a large corporation. From 1990 to 2000, its profit increased by100 times.

“In the process of economic globalization, only excellent enterprises can survive. Only when enterprises constantly make an effort in technological innovation, can they remain steady in the fierce market competition,” said Li Dongsheng, President of TCL Corp. His words also reflect the developmental path of TCL.

TCL’s predecessor was a small factory in south China, manufacturing primarily equipment of telecommunication like telephone sets and magnetic tapes. In 1981, the factory, in collaboration with a Hong Kong business, set up a joint venture. In 1985, it developed its own brand—TCL.

Since the 1990s, TCL’s products have ranged from telephone sets to large electrical appliances such as color TV, air-conditioner, computers, telecommunication devices, Internet devices and services.

TCL attributes its success to its famous brand products developed through the utilization of overseas investment. TCL now leads the country in color TV set production, and is among its top three computer producers. In the past decade, the company has maintained a 50 percent annual growth in production. In 2000, its total sales reached 20.5 billion yuan, thus becoming the electronic producer with the greatest comprehensive strength in China.

TCL began to enter the international market in 1998. Up till now, TCL has established branches or commercial agencies in the United States, Russia, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, and Hong Kong, and has factories in Vietnam, India and the Philippines. In 2000, total sales in overseas markets topped US$514 million. From January to September this year, the volume of exports reached US$480 million, an increase of 35 percent over the same period last year.

TCL President Li disclosed its goals for the next 10 years: To increase the scale of production 10-fold, reach 150 billion yuan in sales, and forge TCL into a world-class corporation. To this end, TCL has absorbed a group of talented business personnel. Up till now, more than 20 high-ranking managers from abroad have served at TCL Corp.

In the process of developing itself into a world-class enterprise, TCL has given priority to technological innovation. It presently has five research and development centers, which are respectively devoted to audio-visual, electrical appliance, telecom, IT and AV products, and employ about 700 research staffs. In 2000, TCL developed 71 new products, increasing by 61 percent, compared with the previous year. TCL has now mastered some advanced technologies, including the production of ISDN digital telephone sets, HIDs (Household Information Displays) and such solid-state polymers as lithium batteries.

When discussing the future of TCL, a confident Li Dongsheng said, “The long-term goal of TCL is to develop itself into an internationally competitive world-class enterprise. In the past 10 years, our profit has increased 100-fold, and in the coming 10 years, we hope it will rise 10 more times and reach the scale of the world’s top 500 enterprises. Of course, we will face many difficulties realizing such a goal. But we believe we will reach it step by step, so long as we set a definite goal and overcome problems one by one.”