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Eaton eyes $1b from China

By China Daily (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-11-18 11:22

Eaton Corporation, the world's second largest maker of hydraulic equipment, is looking to further tap into China's infrastructure sector despite the recent global financial downturn.

"We believe that China's expanding infrastructure is a priority for its economic growth, which will continue for many years to come," said Alexander M. Cutler, chairman and CEO of Eaton.

The US-based company first entered China in 1993 and has grown its business to include 27 manufacturing sites and more than 11,000 employees in the country.

"While the global economic outlook has clearly slowed, we remain very bullish on the Chinese economy," Cutler said in a recent interview with China Daily.

The company last year completed its purchases of Germany's building applications components suppler Moeller Group and Phoenixtec Power Co, a manufacturer of single- and three-phase uninterruptible power supply (UPS) in Taiwan Province for $2.8 billion, further pushing the portion of its overseas sales this year to 55 percent, up from 50 percent in 2007.

After these two major acquisitions, Eaton has added more than 5,000 workers and six locations in China this year.

The company moved its Asia-Pacific headquarters from Hong Kong to Shanghai in 2004, and recently purchased a new building in the city's Changning District to meet the needs of its business expansion.

Earlier this month, it opened its expanded global Electrical Research & Development Center in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province.

The center, one of the three global innovation centers of its electrical business in Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America, has a talent pool of 100 engineers and its workforce is expected to grow by around 40 percent over the next two years.

Culter said the company "is on track" to achieving $1 billion revenue in China ahead of its 2010 target.

Founded in 1911, Eaton is a diversified industrial manufacturer whose business covers electrical, aerospace, hydraulics, trucks and automotive.Its brands include Aeroquip, Phoenixtec, Santec and Moeller.