Freudenberg committed to China

Wentzler attributed the success to first-arrival advantages, efficient localization and successful talent strategies.

In the long term, Wentzler said Freudenberg will continue to strengthen the three key drivers to ensure the business continues to grow.

Wentzler said China is becoming increasingly important for the group and more Chinese talent take the leadership. Training courses and coaching programs ensure candidates can meet the position requirements in the future.

"If you compare the level of activities in China with other regions of the world you will see that we are engaged here far above average," said Wentzler.

He said that in the long run the management of Freudenberg in China should be laid completely in the hands of qualified Chinese employees.

For many international giants, China is a manufacturing base geared towards export. But Wentzler disagrees, saying the group would create value for local clients.

"This country is not the place where we want to benefit from lower wages or lower manufacturing costs. We are not interested in achieving short-term benefits," said Wentzler. "We create and utilize localized value chains for the Chinese market and for local customers."

Freudenberg has established research and development centers in China to better serve local clients. In July, it launched an R&D center for specialty lubricants and high-performance release agents in Qingpu district of Shanghai.

Growth objectives

Though China's economy has slowed in recent years, Wentzler remains optimistic. He said China is coming from a different base compared to almost all other economies in the world and the potential of the Chinese market has not been fully explored.

"Our growth objectives remain ambitious and I am confident that we can achieve them," said Wentzler.

But in the next few years, Freudenberg's investment in China will not be as big as it was in the past decade, said Wentzler.

"The big ramp-up investments, the major capital expenditures of the last five years are now in their consolidation phase. This means we now shift our focus toward increasing efficiency, productivity and intensifying local R&D efforts.

But Wentzler noted in the long term China remains one of the focus regions within the company's overall investment strategy.

As a diversified company with investments in different fields, Wentzler agreed that the management challenges are big. He said that also means more growth opportunities.

"Indeed it (diversification) requires much more attention and much more deep knowledge about many different markets, than a rather narrow, focused offering. But it is also a good opportunity to participate in markets that promise to be of growing importance in the future," said Wentzler.

Besides its established business areas like the automotive industry, Freudenberg has defined five key strategic growth areas that will attract a big part of the group's investments.

The five areas are chemical surface treatment, healthcare and medical technologies, oil and gas, industrial filtration solutions and vibration control technologies for industrial and railway applications.

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