Recently, having been affected by the international financial crisis, many transnational companies have experienced sharp drops in profits, workforce reduction and downsizing. Germany's Siemens was no different. Reporters learned that although Siemens' profits were dramatically lower in the first quarter of the 2009 fiscal year (from October 2008 to September 2009) compared to the previous year, recently it resolutely decided to invest about 1.35 billion yuan more in China's renewable energy sector in the coming three years on top of its cumulative investment of 10 billion yuan. In addition, during the 2008 fiscal year, Siemens' employees in China were still increasing. Given this, what does the substantial additional investment in China made by the centenarian company Siemens mean under the shadow of financial crisis?

Targeting China's "green" market

A spokesperson from Siemens China, told reporters that Siemens made the additional investment in hopes of strengthening its position in China's vigorous market. Over the years, Siemens has long maintained a continuous investment in China's market. By the end of 2006, Siemens announced that it will realize a cumulative investment of 10 billion yuan by 2010. Its recent additional investment of 1.35 billion yuan not only echoed the Chinese government's economic stimulus plan, but also showed the firm confidence Siemens holds in China's long-term development. Siemens believes that the fundamentals of China's economy will maintain sound and rapid growth.

Siemens also indicated that the focus of its business in China is to concentrate in developing new fields in rural areas including energy conservation and local innovation. Siemens will enhance its environmental business portfolio to meet China's "green" target of energy conservation and emissions reduction. As a leading enterprise in the field of environmental and climate protection, Siemens owns an extensive environmental business portfolio which is a strong backbone for Siemens's future business growth. The company's environmental business portfolio includes technologies and solutions in fields involving the environment such as electric power generation, power transmission and distribution and power consumption. It is predicted that 40 percent of Siemens's new contracts in 2010 will be related to its environmental business portfolio. Reports indicate that Siemens is particularly confident with China's wind energy and second-generation solar energy market.

Making great efforts to develop the "green" industry

Reporters learned that the recently held World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2009 in Davos released a report on "green" energy infrastructure. The report lists eight large-scale clean energy sectors that deserve government support: offshore wind power, onshore wind power, solar photovoltaic power, solar thermal power, solar power in municipal works, waste-to-energy power, biomass fuel power and geothermal power. The report states that the world's investment in the clean energy sector reached 155 billion USD in 2008, up from 30 billion USD in 2004. The contribution from developing countries has been rising rapidly, reaching 26 billion USD in 2007 from a mere 1.8 billion USD in 2004. According to the report's prediction, on average, at least 515 billion USD of global investment in "green" energy development is needed every year from now until 2030. Foreign and domestic energy giants are all making heavy investments in China's clean energy market as there are prominent problems in the country's traditional energy structure and its huge market demand. Consensus has been reached at home and abroad that China's "green" industry has bright prospects.　

By People's Daily Online

http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2009-02/11/content_190276.htm