How important is marketing in China today to Sino-foreign joint ventures?

This paper presents the result of an exploratory survey of the role of marketing in China from the perspectives of foreign partners in 35 major Sino-foreign joint ventures. The result shows that China is already an integral part of the global market for many multinational companies, and increasingly, has become a significant part of their corporate business portfolios. Western marketing techniques and concepts have widely been considered effective in China. Multinational companies tend to standardize brand policy, product positioning, product lines and customer services and 'localize' their choice of distribution channel, promotion, and market segmentation. Managerial implications are discussed.