Jobs Mission to Asia

Hangzhou is the wealthiest province in China, mostly due to their successful industries. Near where the delegation is staying are dealers for Lamborghini, Porsche, Bentley, Mercedes – any luxury car you can imagine. It's also very global and Americanized. For instance, we went to dinner last night at an Italian restaurant (in part because we've had a lot of Chinese food already!) that had Mexican food and ESPN was on. As we walked back to our hotel, we heard a rock band playing what sounded like the kind of music you would hear in the U.S. (other than they were singing in Mandarin) and then they broke into "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver.

Today, we visited a company owned by the Chint Group, which produces low-voltage electrical, power transmission and distribution equipment. They are listed as one of the top Chinese companies by Fortune and are the fourth largest private employer in China, with over $3 billion in revenue. Their subsidiary, Astro Energy, is a leading supplier of solar products in China, a brand-new enterprise only in existence since 2006 with approximately 8,000 employees. They make solar panels and solar cells that can be used for power stations, homes and commercial use on the top of roofs and on the ground. They export most of their products primarily to North America and Europe, with Germany and Spain as the two key purchasers of their products. They are selling in 90 countries worldwide. 

Astro Energy is very big on research and development. They spend about three percent of their revenue on R&D and have a special research and development center. They even have a location in Silicon Valley that focuses on R&D for sales, marketing and manufacturing.   We had a fascinating plant tour. Because of the sensitivity of the equipment, we had to go through an air-cleaning machine. We wore hair nets, jackets and covers over our shoes. Their machines are new, automated and expensive. The equipment was designed in Switzerland. They have a very big focus on quality control. They guarantee their product for 25 years, so it is very important that they create a quality product. Astro Energy is looking for innovation from its employees, and they talk a tremendous amount about safety and environmental protection, and taking care of their employees. It is a publicly-traded company, partially owned by the government, but they talked a lot about their private independence vs. government control.

Astro Energy is a very Americanized company. Their management team is comprised primarily of people that are either from the U.S. or have been educated in the U.S.  Every person we met with was from the U.S. They travel all over the world to various solar-powered trade shows, including the largest in the world which was recently held in Los Angeles. They have a real affinity for America. In the next year, they'd like to have a manufacturing facility in the U.S. This is the second energy-related company we have met with in less than 24 hours whose goal is to have a manufacturing facility in the U.S. Labor costs seem to be very low in China, because so much of the process is automated. 

We spent a lot of time talking about the pros of Indiana and why Indiana would be a great place to locate. It is going to be very important for them to find places in the U.S. with the sourcing and infrastructure resources they need. For instance, they need glass. In Indiana, Muncie has a great glass history and industry!

China is very interested in how government policy interfaces with renewables and renewable energy standards. I think, given the growth in the electric demand in China and the serious air quality issues that they have, out of necessity China is going to be the world leader in renewable energy technology. It is amazing how much growth there has been in such a short amount of time. Many companies that have been in existence for 10 years or less are already doing billions in revenues.