China's Haier wants to connect kitchens to Web with GE deal

Hong Kong

WHEN Haier Group set its sights on entering the US market in 1999, it took a year before executives at the Chinese appliance maker secured a meeting with retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc to show off its air-conditioners.

Haier, which at the time made one out of every three refrigerators sold in China, held little appeal for American consumers wary about the Chinese brand's quality and more comfortable with homegrown labels, according to a 2003 book The Haier Way.

Haier won't need to wait that long again. Last week's US$5.4 billion deal to buy General Electric Co's appliance unit, second only to Whirlpool Corp in the US, paves the way for the Chinese company to shed its image as a maker of cheap fridges and vault into the top echelon of high-end makers of Internet-connected kitchen products ranging from ovens to washer…