China remains attractive market for ambitious global firms: Thyssenkrupp CEO

BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Any global player aiming for the top position worldwide must have a strong position in China, according to a CEO with German industrial giant Thyssenkrupp.

China remains an attractive market for foreign firms, despite a slowdown in economic growth, Heinrich Hiesinger told Xinhua, adding that 6.5-percent growth is still one of the highest rates among major economies.

"Clearly, we see now that China is driving into a more sustainable economy, caring more about the environment, growing the service sector and really trying to become a leader in innovation," he said.

Hiesinger said that Thyssenkrupp's recent footprints in the country have been closely following China's repositioning of its industry and the country's 13th Five-Year Plan.

The company just opened its tallest elevator test tower globally and a new elevator plant with a total investment of 800 million yuan (126.6 million U.S. dollars) in south China's Zhongshan City in its latest move to tap the world's largest elevator market.

China has ambitious plans for urbanization, and elevators will play an important part, said Hiesinger, adding that this means a "tremendous growth market."

He was glad to see that the government work report this year encourages existing communities to install elevators, while the State Council issued guidelines to improve the quality and safety of elevators.

"We have an aging society and we need to respect that. This normally drives the relevance for home elevators," he said.

China is Thyssenkrupp's largest market in Asia and the company has invested a total of 15 billion yuan in the country.

Hiesinger said that, compared with many Western countries, China is very open to new technology, and Thyssenkrupp is open to new investment in the country as the market continues to develop.

"What we consider very positive is that throughout the government, whether central or local, they try to facilitate and simplify the investment approval process," he said. Enditem