Lenovo’s agreement last month to form a joint venture with NEC did more than just create Japan’s biggest personal computer maker by sales. The joint venture, which Lenovo will control, sends a bigger signal: Lenovo is back.

The Chinese company last year became the fastest-growing of the world’s leading PC vendors and has been winning market share due to cyclical changes in the global industry as well as internal restructuring. The deal has also reignited a long-running rivalry with Taiwanese competitor Acer.

Lenovo suffered badly during the global financial crisis. After buying IBM’s PC unit in 2005, the Chinese company relied too much on corporate customers and failed to expand its successful consumer business globally. Plummeting corporate PC demand saw Lenovo fall far behind Acer in terms of market share.