Chinese technology companies have been transforming themselves from primarily manufacturers of other brands into top-to-bottom industry players, and the shift is on display this week at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

"China's consumer-electronics companies are supplying increasingly greater driving force to the global industry. China has become a major destination where global consumer electronics giants make premier releases of their latest technologies and products, as well as the origin place and test field for new technologies and products," said Jennifer Xu, vice-president of IDG Asia Pacific, part of tech publishing and research firm International Data Group Inc.

The global market for consumer electronics exceeded $1 trillion in 2012, according to IDG. For gadgets, interconnectivity, intelligence and convergence are the biggest trends, the firm has concluded.

China now accounts for 13 percent of global spending on research and development in the industry, IDG data show.

On Thursday at the CES, IDG named its 2012-13 Consumer Electronics Top 10 Brands from China awards, for what Xu described as excellence in "convergence, penetration and innovation". Winners included well-known brands Haier, Lenovo and Huawei

"The Chinese market has already become quite globalized," said Wu Jiang, president of Changhong Overseas Industry Group, a major manufacturer of televisions."The increasing labor and logistics cost and the rise of the yuan's value present challenges to all of us manufacturers."

"Innovation and brand-building is the way to go for us," he said.

Shao Yang, chief marketing officer for Huawei Technologies Co's devices division, said that as newcomers to the well-established international market, Chinese companies find it hard to survive unless they innovate.

"Huawei has learned from world leaders in a lot of areas," he said. "At the same time, we work hard. We work when others eat and drink coffee. We build up our brand by delivering on our promise each time."

Appliance and TV maker Hisense Group said its global talent program has attracted some 300 senior professionals over the past two years from the United States, Canada, Japan and South Korea.

"2013 should be the year of smart-TV applications," said Zhu Shuqin, deputy director of brand management for Hisense. "The application platform should be open, and we should have an open mentality as well."

Zhu expects Hisense to become one of the world's top three smart-TV brands within three years.

In Asia, according to representatives of the award-winning companies, strategic adjustments by Japanese manufacturers have presented unprecedented opportunities for Chinese and other competitors.

"In the future, smart technology and new display technology will bring new hope and be the driving force for new growth," Changhong's Wu said."Chinese companies should seize the opportunity from industrial adjustment and the technological revolution to develop in emerging markets."

wangjun@chinadailyusa.com