German KSB AG, one of the world's largest pump manufacturers, is hoping to win at least a 20 per cent market share in China within 10 years using its advanced technology in energy conservation.
Currently it has about 15 per cent of the market.
Its products are used in many of the country's major infrastructure construction projects, including the Three Gorges Dam.
They are also used in China's power plants and are part of China's tallest building, Jinmao Tower in Shanghai.
The firm is looking to expand its presence in the country's poorer western and northern regions.
A major maker of pumps, valves and actuators, KSB arrived in China in the late 1970s.
It currently owns an 80 per cent stake in the joint venture KSB
Shanghai Pumps Co Ltd.
It also owns two other companies -
Dalian KSB AMRI Valves in Northeast China's Liaoning Province and KSB Valves Shanghai.
Its sales volume in China increased 40 per cent last year to 130 million euros (US$166.6 million), accounting for 10 per cent of the company's total turnover globally.
The firm is also looking to use its products in Olympic facilities under construction in
Beijing and other mainland cities.
"Asia has become a very important contributor to our overall growth in the last three or four years," said Heinz-Juergen Otto, KSB's CEO, who was attending the company's global management meeting in
Shanghai yesterday.
It is the first time that KSB's 50 top managers have met outside Europe.
"We're meeting in
Shanghai because of the importance of our business here," he said.
He anticipated a 25 to 30 per cent growth for his firm in the Chinese market this year.
Otto said: "I would be in the wrong job if I said we just want to defend.
"If we can increase our market share from 14 or 15 per cent to 20 per cent in 10 years' time, that will be very nice."
As traditional State-owned pump makers decline in China, foreign competitors are pouring in, posing a threat to newly emerging private Chinese pump manufacturers.
KSB, whose products range from pumps for private rainwater systems to equipment for power stations, believes it has an edge on other competitors owing to its advanced technology.
"Products made in China use the very latest technology," Otto said.
For a major consumer of energy, with 30 power plants to be built every year, China welcomes products that can help save energy.
"For instance, in a power plant 3 to 5 per cent of energy is usually used in the pumping system," Otto said.
"But when the pumps have a higher performance, output improves."
He said his company's new technology could help reduce a pump's energy consumption to less than 3 per cent.
"That will protect the environment because you use less coal with less emissions," he added.
He also attributed the success of KSB to early involvement in China and a skilled workforce.
