Interview: Chinese Market Vital to Motorola

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, March 21, 2002

Interview: Chinese Market Vital to Motorola

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Motorola is in China to stay and to grow. That is the message from Fred Shlapak, executive vice president of Motorola, one of the world's largest telecommunications firms, in an exclusive interview with Xinhua on Thursday.

Shlapak is here to sign a cooperation agreement on the new generation of mobile telecommunications technology between Motorola and Eastcom, a subsidiary of China Putian Corporation, China's largest communications equipment manufacturer.

When asked why the Chinese market is important to Motorola, Shlapak says very concisely: "The answer to the question is to take look at what Motorola has done over the last 15 years in China."

Motorola has to date invested 34.5 billion U.S. dollars in China and employs 13,000 people on the Chinese mainland. It is the biggest foreign investor in China's information industry and it is also one of the biggest American investors in the Chinese market.

"Since S. Galvin (former chairman of Motorola) came to China 20 years ago, our relationship with government officials is continuing," Shlapak says.

"Through difficult times and good times, it is very important to remember that Motorola will never fall back in China," he stresses.

Motorola entered China in 1987 and registered in 1992 a companyin Tianjin, a municipality neighboring Beijing, manufacturing pagers, mobile phones, semiconductors and other wireless communications equipment. In April, 1998, it moved its north Asian office from Hong Kong to Beijing. In August, 2000, it announced an investment of another 19.3 billion U.S. dollars in China.

Comparing Motorola to other foreign competitors, he says, "We have a long-term vision in the Chinese market."

"Every thing we do has a long-term vision. We had relations with Eastcom 12 years ago."

Shlapak says the Motorola China Research and Development Institute, founded in November, 1999, is committed to promoting Motorola's long-term success in China through technological development and innovation. With an investment of 218 million U.S. dollars, the institute administers 18 R&D centers with 1,000 employees in China.

Motorola also stresses management localization and local sourcing. In 2000, Motorola and its operations in other countries and regions purchased 1.55 billion U.S. dollars worth of locally sourced equipment and parts from China.

"We not only provide total solutions to Chinese manufacturers, but also provide parts of solutions to our competitors," says Shlapak.

Motorola is now providing a platform to Eastcom, in order to shorten the technological development period for Eastcom and cut costs by 40 percent.

"Our goal is to expand the Chinese market itself," Shlapak stresses.

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