Transferring Technology To China By Means of Joint Ventures

Establishing a joint venture in the People's Republic of China is complex and time consuming because of the differences between China and the West in managerial philosophy, market systems, industrial infrastructure, and motives for creating the joint venture. Acquisition of advanced technology is a predominant concern for China. As a result, technology transfer is almost always a key step in running a joint venture in China. However, in practice there are many unexpected problems in the technology transfer process because of the specific Chinese situation. Currently there is increasing interest in building up joint ventures in China, which leads the authors to discuss the key issues for management in the process of technology transfer to China via joint ventures.