Latest News:  

English>>Business

Entrepreneurs see potential in market

By Zheng Yangpeng in Suzhou, Jiangsu (Xinhua)

08:54, April 23, 2013

Foreign guests for the fourth China-Europe High-Level Political Party Forum visit Lingering Garden, a classical Suzhou-style garden located in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, on Monday. Xu Jingxing / China Daily

What is required for China, the world's second-largest economy, to reach the next, more sophisticated level?

At a Monday seminar in Taicang, Jiangsu province, visiting European delegates and German entrepreneurs in China discussed megatrends in China's economy and their implications for German companies.

Rudolf Scharping, Germany's former defense minister and former chairman of Social Democratic Party, moderated Monday's discussion.

Scharping identified urbanization, sustainability in industries, higher quality of production and resource efficiency as the four major trends in China's economy. He said he wanted to hear opinions from German entrepreneurs on these trends.

"My frequent contacts with German companies in China and Chinese companies in Germany led me to believe that there is a specific need to adjust the future development to a state of harmony between economic growth, human needs and ecological conditions," Scharping said.

Industry concerns

Thilo Koeppe, managing director of Dunkermotoren (Taicang), a brushless DC electric-motor manufacturer, said he sees a huge demand in China's urbanization process as increasing mobility spurs demand for railways, metro lines and automobiles.

Wang Jiasheng, managing director of Ebner Industrial Furnaces (Taicang) Co Ltd, an Austrian manufacturer, said he sees potential in China's reduction of energy consumption and industrial facilities.

Wang said China's urbanization will lead more consumers to use high-quality metal products. Heat-treatment technology will make the steel and metal better suited for some applications, he said.

However, German entrepreneurs said China's megatrends bring challenges as well as opportunities.

For example, Wang said, rising wages for Chinese workers in the past few years have cut his company's competitiveness.

"Now we have to compete fiercely with local enterprises as well as overseas enterprises such as those in India," Wang said. For the past few years, his employees' salaries have been increasing at a pace of more than 10 percent annually.

But Wang and his company will stick with China because of the huge market. China now buys more than 50 percent of the world's metals, Wang said.

Climbing value chain

China's desire to climb up the value chain and become a source of high-end manufacturing also requires faster improvement of its labor force, German entrepreneurs said.

Christian Blatt, general manager of Krones Machinery who also serves on the board of the German Chamber of Commerce, said the GCC conducted an annual survey on Germany companies in China, asking what concerns them most. For many years, energy and supply shortages and intellectual property rights topped the list.

"However, in last year for the first time, human resources entered the top-concerns list," Blatt said.

Erik Breslein, general manager of Zollner Electronics, which produces electronic products for high-speed trains and automobiles, said a better education system is his top concern for his company's operations in China.

"For the past decade we have grown 6 to 7 percent annually. But as China is growing more and more in the direction of high tech, you really need high-quality people to handle the high-tech machineries," Breslein said, adding that his company is establishing a training program for workers.

We Recommend:

Living in mini homes in China

Stunning models at Bangkok Int'l Auto Show

Shanghai Tower, tallest skyscraper in China

Bird flu fears hit poultry industry

Bird flu takes toll on poultry industry

Int'l footwear exhibition kicks off in Shanghai

Email|Print|Comments(Editor:WangXin、Gao Yinan)

Leave your comment0 comments

  1. Name

  

Selections for you


  1. Soldiers in earthquake search and rescue

  2. Rescuers, sniffer dogs to conduct rescue work

  3. 2013 Toronto's Bridal Show

  4. Children in quake-hit areas

  5. Seriously affected areas in earthquake

  6. 2,200 people walk 50km to aid poor kids

  7. Highlight of Bahrain F1 Grand Prix

  8. Tom Cruise, "Oblivion" tops North America

  9. Gold loses sheen,
    but still a safe bet

  10. Credibility still top concern for Chinese firms

Most Popular

Opinions

  1. Homework, games limit kids' reading
  2. Commentary: Quake-hit China grows in pain
  3. Loan guidance is good for banks, report says
  4. IMF should act responsibly
  5. Terrorist attacks should not be regionally labeled
  6. Texas town: like whipped by powerful tornado
  7. High land premiums set to affect profits
  8. Alliance sets new stage for culture
  9. Expats reconsider living in Beijing over pollution
  10. Boston bombings underscore U.S. security concerns

What’s happening in China

Teenager saves mom with his bare hands

  1. Students in quake-hit region to resume classes
  2. Pilot cancels wedding to participate in quake relief
  3. Baby girl born in Baoxing County after earthquake
  4. Make-shift toilets urgently needed in Lushan
  5. 2 armed police rescuers injured