US firm Honeywell finds rich growth seam in China

Multinational companies must carefully study Chinese leader Xi Jinping's report made at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in October last year, as it clearly identifies the potential business opportunities in the country, said a top official from US-based manufacturing and tech giant Honeywell.

Yu Feng, vice-president and general manager of Honeywell performance materials and technologies for the Asia-Pacific region, said that taking a lead from Xi's address the company has identified seven areas for growth－providing better quality of life to consumers, the development of green technology and environmental protection, advanced manufacturing, innovation, high-quality development for products and services, the Belt and Road Initiative and the Healthy China 2030 plan.

Explaining the details of such cooperation, Yu said the company last year participated in a boiler renovation project that aimed to provide better air quality and improve the overall efficiency of boilers in the country. Honeywell infused its decades of expertise in energy saving and environmental protection technologies and tailored them specifically for the Chinese market, he said, adding that the project commenced operations in the middle of 2017.

"CPC Central Committee General Secretary Xi has reiterated that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets. In this sense, we will continue to launch new environmental protection products this year also," he said.

According to Yu, hydroflu-orocarbon, which is widely used as refrigerant for fridges, air conditioners and cold storage units in China, is not environmentally friendly. A large number of European countries have already substituted it with more eco-friendly variants developed by Honeywell. These products have very limited adoption in China. "But we will introduce it into China soon, probably within the next two to three years," he said.

While China used to be a leading manufacturing country in terms of capacity, it is undergoing an industrial transformation stressing more on technology innovation. Both companies and individuals must be encouraged to foster innovation, said Yu.

"Honeywell has seen from its experience in 2017 that technology has a bigger room for development in China. All our business units registered robust growth in the past 12 months, as clients are attaching more importance to product quality than just price," he said.

Although the global earnings numbers for 2017 are yet to be released officially, Honeywell China achieved double-digit growth. Nearly 35 percent of Honeywell's turnover in China came from its research and development unit and that number will continue to increase within the next five years, said Lu Rong, vice-president of the communications department of Honeywell Asia High Growth Region.

"We are looking to replicate the achievements in China to other emerging markets as well, as they will also encounter the challenges that China is facing during its process of urbanization," she said.

"In the long term, we would like to introduce the technology and production standards reached in China to both emerging markets and mature markets," she added.