BEIJING, Dec. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- When Lenovo, China’s leading computer manufacturer, agreed earlier this month to purchase IBM’s personal computer division for US$1.25 billion, it was a giant step onto the global stage for a company that started only two decades ago in a shack near the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.

    Liu Chuanchi, founder of Legend Group, which later renamed itself Lenovo to tap the overseas market, steered the tremendous growth of his company. He started by selling personal computers for big-name companies like IBM and Hewlett Packard. He now owns IBM PC.

    In fact IBM approached Liu three years ago for a proposed sale. However, Liu said no to the Big Blue right away. Why? As he told reporters a week ago, he believed the venture was too risky at that time.

    Three years ago, Lenovo was a giant in its own right. The potential in the domestic market was huge. Chinese people, eager to log online, put a premium on owning a computer at home. Businesses, small or large, were also keen on automating office work. Lenovo was one of the primary choices for businesses and individual PC buyers.

    The company, which accumulated huge sums of cash, also began looking for new outlets of investment. Electronic cameras, MP3 players and other peripheral devices became a new focus for the PC maker.

    Attracted by the high profit margin in the real estate sector, the PC maker also developed its own property for sale and lease. Lenovo was becoming a cross-industry conglomerate employing tens of thousands of employees nationwide.

    However, as Liu admits, many non-PC businesse witnessed a decline in profitability over the past two years. And to add salt to injury, its core business PC manufacturing also reported less-than-forecasted growth. Liu, who had planned to delegate day-to-day business management to his senior management staff, had to re-appear on the business stage and refocus on his giant group.

    He believes that Lenovo must make a firm commitment to go global and it should focus on its core business, PC manufacturing.

    “We started talking to the big international players to understand the challenges. Eventually, we came to see IBM’s offer in a different light,” he said, during an interview with Western journalists.

    As discussion progressed, Liu gained confidence that many of the risks he had feared earlier could be distributed or controlled.

    “For example, we worried about losing customers. So we worked out an agreement that would allow us to continue using the IBM brand, to keep IBM salespeople, and even to keep top IBM executives as CEO,” he was quoted by Fortune magazine as saying.