China becomes biggest ABB country by employees, orders and revenues
Beijing, March 13, 2008 – ABB, the leading global power and automation technologies group, has sharply raised investment in its Chinese businesses, as sustained growth in 2007 made China the largest country in the ABB Group in terms of employees, order intake and revenues.
ABB invested about $100 million more than planned in its 25 local companies in 2007 to support the expansion of research and development, manufacturing, sales and engineering services across the complete power and automation product portfolio. China accounted for 12 percent of the Group’s orders in 2007, ahead of Germany and the U.S.
“ABB’s business in China hit a milestone last year and is now the largest in the Group by most measures,” ABB Chief Executive Officer Michel Demaré said at a press conference during a visit to China. “This is the culmination of 100 years of activity in developing the Chinese market.”
The order intake in China increased 32 percent to $4.1 billion (from $3.1 billion in 2006) and revenues rose 20 percent to $3.4 billion (from $2.8 billion) as ABB continued to introduce its latest technologies to the country. In 2007 these included the high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission systems, lightweight and versatile robots, and energy efficient motor and drive systems.
ABB also accelerated the pace of recruitment in China last year to meet the needs of a rapidly growing business. The number of employees rose by 1,500, or 14 percent, to 12,800, compared with an annual average increase of 1,000 in the past few years.
“Our comprehensive footprint in China and our leading-edge technology are meeting customers’ increasing needs for power grid reliability, industrial productivity and energy efficiency,” said Brice Koch, Chairman and President of ABB China.
ABB has been rated one of the top 10 employers in the country by both media and university students in recent years. Eleven local ABB companies ranked in China’s “top 100 electrical electric enterprises” in 2007.
“China has become a talent base for the ABB Group. A growing number of talented Chinese employees are being appointed to important positions in other parts of the company around the world,” said Demaré. “It is rewarding to see how our local Chinese colleagues have developed so well in our multicultural environment over the years. Expatriate employees only account for one percent of ABB’s workforce in China today.”
China has also become one of the key sources of materials used in manufacturing by the ABB Group. In 2007, ABB’s purchases in China was over $2.1 billion.
The ABB Group last month reported record results for 2007. Orders rose 27 percent to $34.3 billion and revenues increased 27 percent to $29.2 billion. The order backlog was 44 percent higher at the end of 2007 than a year earlier.
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in about 100 countries and employs more than 110,000 people. ABB has a full range of business activities in China, including R&D, manufacturing, sales and service, with 12,800 employees, 25 joint ventures and wholly owned companies, and an extensive sales and service network across 50 cities. To find out more about ABB, visit www.abb.com.cn.