Foreign

China moves fast toward green growth: CEO of Danfoss

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-11-20 14:06

COPENHAGEN - China is moving very fast toward green economic growth, Niels Bjoern Christiansen, president and chief executive officer of Danfoss, a Denish industrial-controls company which has made China one of its core markets, told Xinhua News Agency in an interview.

During the interview with Xinhua, Christiansen shared his views on green growth of economy and the Chinese market.

In 2005, the company decided to develop China as its second home market.

A global producer of components and solutions for refrigeration and air conditioning, heating and water and motion controls, the Danfoss group, which is headquartered in Nordborg, Denmark, employs about 23,000 people worldwide and is one of the biggest companies in Denmark. Now it is represented in more than 20 Chinese cities with around 5,000 employees hired in either Danfoss or its affiliated companies.

"We have all our product lines in China. And we have unique solutions dedicated to the Chinese market,

"There is no doubt that the Chinese market is very interesting for us. The Chinese have all the good intentions to move ahead in this field of energy-efficiency,” he said.

In the global scene of green growth, China is moving even faster than the United States, according to Christiansen.

"So in terms of green solutions, we might very well be in the situation that the Chinese market is more important than the American one," he said.

"I think that many countries are seeing that they can actually save a lot of money by energy-efficient solutions. The energy-efficient investments you see governments are making are investments that are financially sound and which can give a very nice return," he said.

"There is a strategic incentive in investing in these energy-efficient solutions. We see this with Germany, which has a really strong solar power industry and China which has grown a really strong wind power industry."

"China has set an energy-efficiency target. Europe has set a goal for carbon dioxide emissions. India has set a goal for carbon dioxide emissions. We are still missing an ambitious target for the United States,

" What we are interested in, is that China enforces its ambitious goals," he said.

Last year Danfoss reported revenues of 3.45 billion euros ($4.7 billion). This year the company expects revenues of around 4.16 billion euros, and much of this growth is happening in China.

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"The estimate is that we are developing with the market and that we are maintaining or even gaining market shares in certain areas. It is obvious that while we are growing nicely in China, the general market in China is growing very nicely," said Christiansen.

However, "our growth in the Chinese market is more driven by the development in the market, rather than us taking large market shares from our competitors," he pointed out.

The Chinese government is currently deliberating the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-1015), under which China aims to build a sustainable and green economy by boosting domestic demand and investing in clean technologies.

"The plan is very harmonious with our business. For example, it has taken a long time to implement energy-saving heating solutions in Chinese households. The next five-year plan will help further the implementation of some of these green actions and enforce the goals," said Christiansen.