Schueco China sees local expansion opportunities

Schueco, the leading German window, door and facade system provider, forecasts further expansion in China, according to Guenter Strauss, the executive director of its operations in China, in an exclusive interview.

"For Schueco, China is one of the company's largest overseas markets and it serves as a strong growth engine for its global business," Strauss said.

"Although listed real estate developers in China are set to face significant challenges in both sales and financing this year due to tightened regulations, Schueco China sees a positive market environment and further opportunities in 2017," he added.

Targeting the current market situation, Schueco focuses most on digitization and sustainability, he said.

"We have seen more and more developers start to take an active interest in sustainability and new technologies to improve the overall quality and value of real estate," he said.

He added that Schueco China will continue to cooperate with local partners and customers to contribute to China's smart cities development.

As a German market leader for system solutions with more than 60 years of experience, Schueco can share a wealth of knowledge that is valuable for the Chinese market, "but we need to combine local needs with German engineering and quality", Strauss noted.

"The Chinese market for innovative building envelopes has enormous potential," he said. "Schueco is facing ever-increasing market demands."

With a series of policies rolling out, sustainability and innovation have gained growing acceptance. Such policies include the Made in China 2025 strategy to upgrade the country's manufacturing industry, a national innovation-driven campaign, as well as the country's supply-side reforms and smart city development initiative.

Similarly, Germany's Industry 4.0 revolution encourages the application of intelligent equipment and information technologies, contributing to sustainable development.

"As changes in consumer demands, behavior and lifestyles have taken place in China, consumer profiles are becoming personalized, precise and fragmented," Strauss said.

"With increasing environmental awareness, the government and developers have both come to realize that poorly constructed buildings are part of the problem," he said.

Schueco window systems offer a high degree of thermal insulation. These traits help to reduce the need for heating and cooling, and thus make a building far more environmentally friendly by reducing its overall carbon footprint, according to the company.

Green buildings are projected to account for half of new buildings in urban areas in 2020, a marked growth from 2 percent in 2012, according to a national plan for a new type of urbanization (2014-20).

"The marketplace is very competitive with an increasing demand for innovation while delivering a high-quality product," Strauss said.

"Schueco's development in China is dependent on its ability to innovate and localize," he noted.

"Innovation is an innate gene for a German company," he explained. "For Schueco's continued growth in the market, we have a specialized technical team in China to improve and customize products according to the Chinese market's demands and climate conditions."

A nationwide service network "with deep insight into the changing domestic market" helps to boost Strauss' faith in the opportunities in the country.

"For better customer-oriented service, we have established regional offices that offer full value chain services to be as close as possible to local markets," he said.

caoyingying@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 10/26/2017 page12)