For TCl, however, the deal is bigger still. With revenues in excess of €1 billion and producing more than 18 million TV and DVD sets a year, the joint venture is being trumpeted as the industry's next global leader. So watch out Sony, Philips, Toshiba
and Samsung. Mr li believes he is creating something new: 'the first Chinese consumer multinational with significant presence in all major markets'. And he promises confidently that the joint venture will make a profit in its first year.