WHAT’S NEXT
086 asian hot growth
Playing
The China Card
In this year’s ranking, the sizzle of even non-Chinese
companies comes from sales to the mainland
By Bruce Einhorn
If you run a modest Japanese chain of
ramen shops, how do you stand out
from thousands of other noodle joints?
Katsuaki Shigemitsu, head of the
family-run Ajisen chain, headed for
the fastest-growing market around:
China. His franchisee, Ajisen (China)
Holdings, now operates 180 shops
in Hong Kong and the mainland.
Shigemitsu figures Ajisen (China) will
have 300 outlets in China and Hong
Kong by 2010. “This could be a spring­
board for global growth,” he says.
China is the big theme in Business-
Week’s annual Asia Hot Growth rank­
ing of the region’s top 100 small and
midsize companies. Businesses from
BUSINESSWEEK.COM To see the full
list of this year’s
Asian Hot Growth companies, please visit
businessweek.com/go/hotgrowthasia.
BUSINESSWEEK I NOVE M B E R 26, 2007
the mainland and Hong Kong, which
does most of its business in China,
make up 21 of the entries, compared
with 12 in 2006. Throw in the Taiwan­
ese companies, which manufacture
THE TOP 10
1 Ajisen (China) Holdings
2 Raffles Education
3 Hangzhou Steam Turbine
4 Pine Agritech
5 Phison Electronics
6 Enric Energy Equipment Holdings
7 E-TON Solar Tech
8 China Sky Chemical Fiber
9 KS Energy Services
10 AAC Acoustic Technologies Holdings
Data: Standard & Poor’s Compustat, BusinessWeek
and market on the mainland, and
China takes up almost half the list.
But even that accounting under­
estimates the China effect. No. 2
Raffles Education of Singapore runs
for-profit schools: In October it an­
nounced a deal to buy the operator
of a 54,000-student university near
Beijing. No. 15 Taewoong of South
Korea forges heavy metal parts for ship
engines. They power the Korean-built
vessels that ply the China trade.
The rise of China is also producing
a new class of entrepreneurs. For years
after China opened its markets, the
government directed
Ajisen noodle
shop in Shanghai:
capital and other as­
The Japanese sets to state-owned
are cashing in giants. Today, “if you
have a good idea, you
can get the opportunity to execute it,”
says venture capitalist Hsu Ta-lin of
H&Q Asia-Pacific.
Entrepreneur Ming Dequan is the
creator of Celestial NutriFoods, Chi­
na’s top seller of soy-protein powder
beverages and No. 11 on the list. The
company’s sales and profits more than
quintupled between 2002 and 2006,
to $156 million and $49.3 million,
respectively. Officials in the northeast
province where Ming operates have
showered Celestial and other soy com­
panies with tax breaks and additiional
assistance, all to create a new industry
for the region. Now, says Ming, “we’re
producing flat out, and we still can’t
meet demand.” ^
–With Chi-Chu Tschang in Beijing and
Hiroko Tashiro in Tokyo
Hong Kong Restaurants
Singapore Education and training
China Heavy power equipment
China Agricultural products
Taiwan Computer software storage
China Industrial machinery
Taiwan Solar cells
China Textiles
Ariana Lindquist
Singapore Oil and gas services
Hong Kong Acoustic components