Oct 1 2007
The ThyssenKrupp Group intends to grow further in China. “In the coming years we aim to double our sales in China to two billion euros and invest half a billion euros. With our increased sales we aim to support China’s economic growth quantitatively and qualitatively,” said ThyssenKrupp AG’s CEO, Dr. Ekkehard Schulz, on Saturday at the opening of the ThyssenKrupp Technology Days in Shanghai. In the fiscal year to the end of September 2007, ThyssenKrupp increased its sales to customers in China by ten percent. In 2005/06 the Group achieved sales of one billion euros in China, roughly 400 million of which was generated by the Group’s biggest company in China, Shanghai Krupp Stainless. ThyssenKrupp holds a 60 percent stake in this joint venture.
ThyssenKrupp is also pursuing growth plans for the Transrapid magnetic levitation train. The plans to extend the existing link between Pudong International Airport and Longyang Road Station are well advanced. A commercial agreement has been reached with the Chinese side to work together on the 34 kilometer extension to Hongqiao Airport. The decision on this extension will be made by the Chinese side. “A positive decision would be of major importance for the further use of the Transrapid technology in China,” said Schulz. To date, over twelve million passengers have traveled on the Transrapid.
China is today by far the biggest steel manufacturer in the world, producing more than a third of the world’s steel. Chinese steel companies are putting their faith in new, state-of-the-art mills meeting high environmental standards – 50 million tons of efficient capacity is under construction or planned. In return, outdated facilities are supposed to be closed. However this is not yet being carried out with the necessary rigor. “All the measures taken by the Chinese governments to curb exports have been without effect so far,” said Schulz. One of the consequences of this is hitting Europe particularly hard: “China is developing into a steel exporter, and Europe is the first destination outside Asia for its products” continued Schulz. Ten million tons of steel will be exported to the EU this year; last year it was only half that amount. “If China wishes to avoid long-running trade conflicts, the rules of the market have to be obeyed,” said Schulz.
As an international technology group, ThyssenKrupp attaches high priority to responsible action. The Group has seen itself as a good global corporate citizen for many years. The Technology Days are an expression of this sustainable business approach against the background of major social, technical and ecological challenges. With the exhibition, ThyssenKrupp aims to show how its innovative products and solutions can help meet these challenges.
The exhibition is being held at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum in the Golden Week from September 30 to October 6 and will present innovative technologies and eco-friendly solutions for tomorrow’s world. ThyssenKrupp sees itself first and foremost as a partner to China who will support the country in mastering the diverse challenges ahead.
Focusing on three central global challenges – increasing mobility, resource shortages and climate change – the ThyssenKrupp Technology Days will demonstrate some of our concrete solutions to the challenges involved. Examples will include new materials for efficient and lasting use in modern seawater desalination plants; the EnviNOx process for filtering pollutants out of the air; and contributions by steel materials to making the car of the future safer and lighter.
The amount of water, electricity, fuel and food we use every day is growing all the time. But due to its size and the enormous pace of its growth, China faces bigger challenges than any other country in the world.
Innovations and technical progress are key to meeting these challenges: new materials, improved technologies, optimized production processes and intelligent products can help conserve resources and restrict the consequences of climate change.
Many of the challenges facing Europe and China are similar and can best be mastered together, by learning with and from one another.
The ThyssenKrupp Technology Days are part of an initiative launched by ThyssenKrupp to communicate the fascination of technology to a broad public. Activities in Germany include the Ideas Park – a technology experience for the whole family which attracted some 260,000 visitors to Gelsenkirchen in 2004 and Hanover in 2006. In 2008 a further Ideas Park will take place in Stuttgart.
In parallel with this, ThyssenKrupp also stages attractive international technology events aimed at raising enthusiasm for technical innovations not just among experts, but also the general public. Prior to the Technology Days in Shanghai, ThyssenKrupp organized a technology show at Waseda University in Tokyo in 2005.
In Shanghai, ThyssenKrupp will be supported by partners from higher education and the world of science. These partners include the renowned Tongji University in Shanghai, which has a long tradition of Sino-German cooperation and collaborates closely with ThyssenKrupp. The First Lego League, an international robot competition sponsored by ThyssenKrupp, is a partner that will appeal to children. The Technical University of Clausthal is one of ThyssenKrupp’s German partner universities; it specializes in engineering and has many Chinese students. A further partner is the Deutsches Museum, one of the world’s most highly renowned museums of technology, while from the area of research we are joined by the Dresden-based Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research, which will initiate visitors into the secrets of materials science.
The ThyssenKrupp Technology Days will take place in the imposing Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. Visitors will be able to witness an impressive technology exhibition over an area of 2,500 square meters. More than 50 exhibits from ThyssenKrupp and its partners will invite the Chinese public to find out about the global challenges and explore the fascinating world of technical innovation.
To coincide with the Technology Days, a new ThyssenKrupp China website will go online at www.thyssenkrupp.com.cn, where you will be able to find more information about the Technology Days.