Ambitions cloaked in green

"Now, especially with the slowing of China's economy, there is an increasing interest from manufacturers to cut energy consumption in their factories in an effort to cut costs and increase profits," he says.

But not every line of Siemens' business is immune to China's slowdown. Cheng says growth for Siemens China has not been as rapid as it was in fiscal 2011, when revenue grew 18.5 percent year-on-year.

He would not give details about Siemens' business performance this year, but says that Siemens' investments in China are a long-term strategy.

"There is an old saying by Siemens' founder Werner von Siemens: 'I will not have the short-term profit jeopardize my long-term future,'" he says.

Over the past year, the company has increased the number of its division branches in China from 65 to 73. It has about 2,000 scientists and experts in Siemens China's research and development team who are set to bring more technologies and solutions from developed markets to help China reach its sustainable development goals.

"As our CEO always says 'I never miss a good crisis'. Plus, I think China's economy has already hit the base and it will start to rebound next year," Cheng says.

Siemens is clearly not the only company that has its eyes on the blossoming business opportunities lying in China's sustainable development.

Claudio Facchin, chairman and president of ABB China, says the Switzerland-based power and automation technology company will benefit from China's 12th Five-Year Plan that focuses on energy efficiency, industrial productivity and a lower environmental impact.

The French electrical engineering giant Schneider Electric has also been ramping up its business in China since the beginning of this year in an effort to popularize its Smart City Solutions, which uses different kinds of smart technologies to efficiently manage a city's resources.

However, Siemens feels its broad spectrum of products for cities gives it a competitive edge.

"You can practically do one-stop shopping here with Siemens. We even have Siemens Financial Services to offer financing solutions, whether it is the investment to remake your building with energy-saving solutions or financing with even larger public projects, we can help," Cheng says.

"Last year we helped with 4 billion yuan ($642 million) in all kinds of financing projects in China. There has been no financing program in China that is too big for us to take so far. We are looking forward to having bigger projects."

mengjing@chinadaily.com.cn