• Average annual growth exceeds 20 percent over five years
• ABB increases investment, exports and local purchases in China
Beijing, Feb. 19, 2009 – ABB China today announced strong results for 2008, including record revenues of $4.1 billion, a 21％ increase over last year. ABB China's average annual growth rate over the past five years is more than 20％.
The Chairman and President of ABB China, Brice Koch, told a press conference today that ABB's strong pace of investment in China continued in 2008, reaching $190 million for the year. The company’s total investment in China to date now stands at more than $1 billion.
In 2008, ABB launched two new joint ventures and expanded many ABB facilities in China, including R&D and companies manufacturing energy efficient solutions.
ABB China employed more than 15,000 people by the end of 2008, an increase of 2,200 compared to the end of 2007. ABB purchases in China in 2008 were $2.7 billion, a 29％ increase over the previous year.
Exports from its Chinese operations in 2008 increased by 83％, the result of increasing recognition of the excellence of ABB's design, manufacturing and engineering services in China, said Koch.
Despite a global economic slowdown that began to be felt in the third quarter of 2008, ABB China's order intake for the year was $4.5 billion, 12 ％ higher than 2007, he added.
Koch has been head of ABB China since January 2007, and is president of ABB's North Asia Region, which includes markets in Mainland China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
“The economic slowdown has affected many of our customers, so we are also facing a challenge," he said. "But there remains a very strong market demand for technologies to increase energy efficiency, industrial productivity and power reliability, which are ABB's core strengths.”
Ten ABB companies were ranked among China’s top 100 electric enterprises in 2008.
"I am pleased to say ABB China still continues to support our customers with outstanding power and automation technology, as well as ABB Group in terms of our business growth, talent acquisition and local sourcing,” Koch said.
There were many significant events and highlights in China during 2008.
“We helped our Chinese customers pull through the twin disasters of heavy snows in the South, and the terrible earthquake in Sichuan," Koch said. "And I am especially happy of our contributions to the success of the Olympics in Beijing, where reliable ABB power systems supported more than 30 power infrastructure and energy efficiency projects.”
ABB China and its employees helped restore power in areas affected by the heavy snows and the earthquake, and donated more than 12 million RMB for relief efforts during 2008.
ABB won the “Olympic Electrical Power Safety Medal” from Beijing for the flawless performance of its systems during the Olympics. And ABB Chongqing Transformer Company was recognized for its significant contribution to the Three Gorges project with a number of awards from authorities.
ABB China has expanded in new areas to encourage business growth, Koch explained. For example in March 2008, ABB launched a global transformer design center in Chongqing. In addition, a number of local ABB companies expanded to increase their production capacity in 2008, including the drives plant in Beijing, and the Shanghai plant manufacturing energy efficient motors.
ABB also set up two new manufacturing companies in China during 2008.
Finally, ABB China is becoming increasingly active in more than 15 overseas markets in Asia, Europe, the America and Africa. ABB China backs up its strong push into export markets with more than 20 manufacturing units, about 700 R&D researchers and engineers, and an increasing number of global and regional centers of expertise that have been set up in China in the recent years.
“Looking ahead, I expect 2009 will be a challenging year for everyone, but trust in the long-term strengths of China's market," Koch said. "ABB will continue its pace of investment in China, and to keep our people competitive with increased training and development opportunities, to ensure we are ready for the next economic take off."
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 120,000 people. ABB has a full range of business activities in China, including R&D, manufacturing, sales and services, with 15,000 employees, 27 joint ventures and wholly owned companies, and an extensive sales and service network across 60 cities. To find out more about ABB in China, visit www.abb.com.cn.