That is a dramatic rise from 2004 levels, when Chinese firms made 53 overseas purchases valued at US$3.8bn.But Lenovo's splashy takeover of the iconic US high-tech brand has so far proven to be an exception.
This Immersive Cocoon is neither a commercial product nor a viral marketing campaign for a high-tech brand.
And as Philips has already discovered to its cost, even when it comes to high-tech wizardry, brands still matter.
He added that a new high-tech cable brand and an "intensified focus on service and innovation are making a real difference".
"They're premium, high-tech and status brands.
By the late '70s, surfing a new fitness craze centered on running, a sea of high-tech performance trainers from brands such as Nike, Adidas and Puma came onto the market, along with a range of new-generation basketball shoes.
Children raised on flat screens are pleasantly surprised by this "high-tech but weirdly nonvirtual" brand of fun, Mr. Dickey said.
While Mr. Dean works on an endlessly delayed sophomore solo album, he has also branched out into fashion branding and high-tech industries.
Now Jay Walder, the public transportation expert who helped turn London's aging transit system into an (albeit expensive) envy of the globe, wants to take his brand of high-tech transit reform to the city where he got his start, New York.
