China and Hong Kong rank well down the list when it comes to the number of family-owned businesses that have at least 100 years of history, according to an academic study.
In fact, international peers such as Japan and the US rank much higher when it comes to nurturing a company through different generations of leadership, according to Roger King, director of Tanoto Center for Asian Family Business and Entrepreneurship Studies.
“A lack of diversification of business, and a lack of outside professionals to help run the business are part of the reasons fewer Chinese family businesses last for over 100 years. We should learn more from Jewish, Japanese, American and European families,” King said on Wednesday.
Of family businesses operating for at least a century, Japan has 25,321, the US has 11,273, and Germany has 7,632.
Although Japan leads the league table, its oldest companies are mainly comprised of small players such as restaurants or confectionery markers.
Taiwan ranked 19th with 209 century-old companies, while mainland China ranked 21st place with 204. Hong Kong ranked 31st with 89 companies meeting the centurion threshold.
King said Japan benefited from a culture of passing business ownership onto a son-in-law or an adopted son without blood relationship, as long as the adoptee agreed to take on the family name.