Chinese government wants 5 more Lenovos by 2015

There’s no doubting that Lenovo is one of the Chinese tech scene’s greatest success stories. The electronics manufacturer is growing fast is set to overtake HP and become the world’s top PC manufacturer fairly soon. Small wonder then that the Chinese government wants another five companies just like it.

In a statement released yesterday, the government’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said that it wanted to have between five and eight Chinese manufacturers with sales of at least ¥100 billion (US$16.1-billion) by 2015.

The agency also calls for companies in the country to actively pursue acquisitions and mergers in a way that would more closely integrate supply chains and allow them to be more competitive on a global scale.

Interestingly, the agency is also urges companies across the country to switch their focus from low-cost supply chains to globally recognizable names involved in high-end manufacturing. The announcement is reportedly part of a wider move to consolidate the Asian superpower’s various industries.

As the Wall Street Journal notes, the guidelines come fresh off the back of a leadership transition in the Asian superpower. This could indicate that the new leadership caucus understands that even China’s vast tech market has its limits.

At present Lenovo and Huawei are the only two countries to have met the ¥100-billion sales target. While other hardware companies may well be able to catch up, the country’s social networking powers, encumbered by the a series of censors colloquially known as the Great Firewall may have more trouble expanding.

That said, the likes of Tencent’s WeChat seem to be finding favour in foreign markets, with the instant messaging service recently passing the 300-million user mark.