Daring moves by corporate bosses show China's rush to become a major player on the global stage
FU CHENGYU
CNOOC chairman Fu Chengyu was one of the most sought-after media interview targets this year after he led China's smallest state oil producer in a bidding war to acquire the United States' seventh-largest oil firm Unocal.
CNOOC's highly leveraged US$18.5 billion bid for a company similar in size to itself - an attempt to trump a rival offer from global energy giant Chevron, the world's fifth-largest oil company - has drawn attention the world over.
Had it succeeded, it could have been China's largest overseas acquisition deal, dwarfing its much bigger peer China National Petroleum Corp's US$4.18 billion purchase of Canada-based PetroKazakhstan.
But protectionist sentiment in US political circles derailed CNOOC's ambitions - it withdrew its bid before facing inevitable defeat.
