Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, April 19, 2002
Matsushita, TCL Cooperate in Home Appliance Field
To increase its presence in China, the Japanese Matsushita Electric is negotiating a deal with the TCL Group in south China's Guangdong Province to cooperate with it in home appliance sales and technical development.
To increase its presence in China, the Japanese Matsushita Electric is negotiating a deal with the TCL Group in south China's Guangdong Province to cooperate with it in home appliance sales and technical development.
An official with Beijing-based Matsushita Electric (China) Co., Ltd. says that the two parties signed a tentative cooperation agreement on April 9 but further discussions are still being held.
According to the agreement, the two sides will work together in the purchase of key spare parts, including cathode ray tubes (CRT) and compressors, share the TLC Group's domestic sales networks and jointly develop a cutting-edge AV technology.
A depressed Japanese market has compelled Matsushita to seek more opportunities abroad, and China is focusing on its overseas expansion, according to sources with Matsushita.
Since December last year, Matsushita has been working towards shifting its production focus to China. The company now has a dust collector plant in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, a 2.5 billion yen semi-conductor company in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province and a new compressor plant in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province.
By April 6, 2002, Matsushita Electric had invested 5.8 billion yuan (698.8 million U.S. dollars) in 49 enterprises in China. Of these 41 are in the production sector.
Established in 1981, the TCL Group is China's leading home appliance maker. A TCL official says that the deal will benefit both parties, with Matsushita having wider access to the Chinese market and TCL gaining strength in technical development.