Enduring allure of irresistible Chinese economy

Visitors admire a model of Siemens' smart transportation solution during a digital expo in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian province, on Oct 11. [Provided to China Daily] 

According to Pang, China has become a source of innovation for the company rather than just a market. Schneider's annual investment in research and development in China surged over 15 percent in the past four years, and will continue to grow this year and in the future.

In its next step, Schneider will continue to expand the market presence of EcoStruxure, its open, interoperable, IoT-enabled system architecture in the Chinese market, especially in its manufacturing and energy sectors, to better combine operational and information technologies into one management interface.

Given Chinese consumers' strong spending power, expanding middle-income group, comprehensive support for industry, advanced services and logistics networks, the country's potential for attracting FDI will continue to expand in the long run, said Zhang Shaogang, vice-chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

"It is also worth mentioning that the rate of utilization of foreign capital in China's high-tech industry continues to soar, and foreign-funded enterprises have invested more in this sector," Zhang said.

Daryoush Ziai, CEO of Schindler Group China, the Swiss elevator and escalator manufacturer, said the overall new installation market will stay strong in China over the next several years, because many policies and initiatives introduced by the government will actively promote the rapid development of city clusters including the Yangtze River Delta, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region as well as the Hainan Free Trade Port.

"Therefore, it will drive investments in infrastructure, commercial and office buildings, and residential projects, and bring along tremendous demand for elevator products," he said.

Schindler's products manufactured in China have also been exported to other countries and regions including South America, the rest of Asia and East Europe. Schindler has been an active participant in the Belt and Road Initiative, with many of its projects located in Malaysia, Uzbekistan, Russia and African countries.

China is on its way to upgrade elevators as well as installing new units in aging urban residential buildings of its cities, Ziai said. So, old equipment will be modernized while new elevators will be installed in old community buildings. The government policy in this field will certainly improve people's livelihood and create more momentum for elevator manufacturers.

As China has become General Electric's largest single-country market outside the United States, GE's local unit, which has more than 20 manufacturing bases across the country, sees huge opportunities in energy, aviation and healthcare, said Xiang Weiming, president and CEO.

Trends like clean energy, affordable healthcare, regional integration, urbanization and modern manufacturing spell opportunities for GE, he said.

GE started to build a ventilator factory in Wuxi in East China's Jiangsu province in June and a plant in Puyang in Central China's Henan province in August, to produce onshore wind power equipment.

Air Liquide Group, a French industrial gas producer, is building an air separation unit in Tianjin with an investment of 60 million euros ($70.98 million). The ASU is expected to support the growth of the chemical and steel industries in the city.

With an oxygen production capacity of more than 2,000 metric tons per day, the facility is scheduled to become operational in 2022.

The company operates seven ASUs in Tianjin, as well as a network of multi-sourced pipelines that deliver oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen to customers in the adjacent premises.

François Abrial, a member of the Air Liquide's executive committee supervising operations in the Asia-Pacific region, said as one of the most important industrial cities and the largest port in North China, Tianjin is a key base for Air Liquide in China.

It shows the company's confidence in the sustained growth of the Chinese industry toward cleaner and more efficient operations.