The opportunities that China's membership in the WTO brought did not fall just on the big state enterprises but to lesser known ones as well, for example, Geely Motor Corp in Zhejiang province, which is a perfect example of the challenges and advantages the move brought.

Zhejiang's auto industry was never one of its strong points and when China joined the WTO in 2001, the entire province had only 36,150 vehicles, or about 1.5 percent of the country's total.

In fact, Geely only began making cars in 1997, and was disadvantaged in many ways, including production capacity and brand image.

But, from the beginning, it insisted on producing economical cars for ordinary Chinese, and gradually found a niche in the mid-level market. Then in 2010, Geely acquired Volvo, a major landmark in Chinese automotive engineering development.

Other prominent Chinese names that have joined Geely in Zhejiang include Haiqing Biotech Co and Aigo Digital Technoiogy Co.

Innovation is another area where Chinese companies had more to learn after joining WTO and one example of this is the Haiqing Biotech Co, a cleaning product manufacturer, whose revenues jumped from 20 million yuan ($3.14 million) in 2001 to 2 billion yuan in 2010.

That came mainly from its research and development in a niche area - a-methyl ester sulphonate (MES) technology for environmentally friendly, energy-saving cleaning agents. As a result, "Haiqing MES" has become a household word in cleaning products.

Using natural botanical extracts as raw material, eco-friendly Haiqing MES can meet the American Cleaning Association standards in safety and health, environmental friendliness, and energy and water conservation, according to the company.

Chinese enterprises have also come to understand the importance of intellectual property rights. One company, Aigo Digital Technology, managed to patent its USB Plus technology, and its flash disk has managed to claim the largest Chinese market share for 11 years running.

In 2011, Aigo joined several influential Chinese enterprises, such as Gree Electric Appliances, to form a league in the hopes of promoting greater awareness of the need to protect intellectual property rights. They also hope to increase communication by Chinese brands with the global market for greater recognition and profits.