PARIS: It was
fear of being dominated by a Chinese behemoth that sparked an attempt by large
French and German rail companies to join forces to create a European industrial
champion. The merger by Alstom and Siemens was vetoed by the EU on Thursday,
but concerns about the overwhelming power of vast, often state-backed Chinese
companies is not limited to the rail industry. Here are some of areas in which
Chinese companies control a large piece of the global market.

Rail 

China's
state-backed CRRC is the world's largest train manufacturer, with locomotives
and wagons ordered across the globe from Boston to Philadelphia, Cambodia to
Colombia, and customers including the iconic London Underground and Germany's
Deutsche Bahn. Its annual revenues of 26 billion euros (29 billion dollars)
alone outweigh the three Western heavyweights Bombardier, Siemens and Alstom,
each of which brings in around nine billion a year.

Agrichemicals

The state-owned
ChemChina became one of the world's seeds and pesticide producers when it
acquired Swiss pesticide giant Syngenta for $43 billion in 2017, putting it in
competition with Monsanto and DowDupont. It was the biggest overseas
acquisition by a Chinese firm yet, ahead of the $15.1 billion purchase of
Canada's Nexen Energy by China's state oil firm CNOOC in 2013. ChemChina also
controls Italian tyremaker Pirelli and German machinery firm KraussMaffei.

Energy 

The state-run
China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) launched its locally developed Hualong One
nuclear reactor in 2015 to compete with French and US models, selling to
Argentina and Pakistan. Chinese solar panel manufacturers Jinko, Trina and
Solar dominate the global market. And Chinese oil companies-CNOOC, CNPC and
Sinopec-are investing heavily even as their global rivals cut spending.

Aviation 

China's
state-owned plane-maker Comac expects to deliver its first home-made passenger
jet to a customer in 2021, as it seeks to challenge the dominance of Boeing and
Airbus. The company says it has received a thousand orders for its 168-seater
C919 plane.

Food 

The state-owned
food giant COFCO is playing an increasing role in world grain trading after
purchasing the agricultural arm of Singaporean commodities trader Noble as well
as Dutch Nidera. China's WH Group became the world's largest meat producer in
2013, when it purchased major hot dog producer Smithfield Foods Inc.

Drones

Founded by a
Chinese university student in 2006, DJI has become the world's top civilian
drone maker with 70 percent of the market, outpacing its French rival Parrot.

Smartphones 

Chinese
smartphone makers are taking a larger slice of the global market, with Huawei
at 15 percent, Xiaomi 8.7 percent and Oppo 8.1 percent. Phone sales by Huawei
and Oppo surged by 30 percent last year, defying a downward trend that hit
rivals Apple and Samsung.

Home
appliances 

China's Haier
Group is the world's leading manufacturer of home appliances with around 10
percent of the market, ahead of rivals Whirlpool and Electrolux.  Haier even purchased the appliances arm of US
giant General Electric in 2016.

Batteries 

Chinese firm
CATL, which supplies batteries for car titans Volkswagen, Ford and Daimler, is
battling with Japan's Panasonic for the world's lithium electric car battery
top spot. Its production capacity will increase fivefold by 2020 due to a
mammoth new factory in China, and the firm has announced a huge factory in
Germany to supply European customers.

Freight  

The state-owned
Cosco Group is the world's third biggest shipping company with 50 container
ports across the globe, including Greece's Piraeus and Spain's Bilbao. - AFP