Interview: Swiss elevator manufacturer Schindler optimistic about China's economic outlook

This aerial photo taken on Jan. 18, 2023 shows vehicles waiting for shipment at Yantai Port in Yantai, east China's Shandong Province. (Xinhua/Zhu Zheng)

Referring to China's gross domestic product (GDP) target of around 5 percent for 2023, Napoli said: "I have lived in China long enough to know that the Chinese economy will always surprise everyone."

GENEVA, March 19 (Xinhua) -- A predicted recovery for the Chinese economy means that the Swiss elevator manufacturer Schindler is cautiously optimistic about its business outlook for 2023, the company's head told Xinhua in an interview recently.

"I'm sure the Chinese economy will bounce back," said Silvio Napoli, Schindler's chief executive officer, at the company's headquarters in Ebikon, Switzerland.

Referring to China's gross domestic product (GDP) target of around 5 percent for 2023, Napoli said: "I have lived in China long enough to know that the Chinese economy will always surprise everyone."

A man works in the workshop of an electronic company in Tangshan, north China's Hebei Province, on Feb. 2, 2023.(Xinhua/Mu Yu)

Founded in 1874, Schindler is a multinational company that manufactures elevators, escalators and moving walkways.

"Orders take 12 to 18 months before they turn into construction sites. It will take at least until the second half of 2023 to return to growth. We're patient, and we're not here for the short term only," Napoli explained.

The company said last month that in 2022 its revenue had increased by 1 percent, to 11.3 billion Swiss francs (12.24 billion U.S. dollars), while order intake decreased by 1.7 percent to nearly 12 billion Swiss francs.

The main headwinds this year will come from an ongoing slowdown of the global economy, Napoli told Xinhua, combined with pressure on the real estate and construction sectors.

Therefore, in 2023, the company expects single-digit revenue growth in local currencies.

"The outlook for the year is one of positive caution," Napoli explained, markets are recovering in some countries, but not others, meaning the company is "cautiously optimistic."

An employee works on a tunnel boring machine at a workshop of China Railway Engineering Equipment Group Co., Ltd. (CREG) in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province, Nov. 24, 2022. (Xinhua)

China currently accounts for around 17 percent of Schindler's sales.

"China is our second-largest R&D center, one that I was very pleased to open and enlarge when I was there before the pandemic. It continues to produce amazing products, components systems, both on the hardware and software side," Napoli said.

Napoli, who has served as Schindler's chairman since 2017 and previously spent several years with the company in Shanghai and Hong Kong, said he was looking forward to returning to China for a business trip soon to better understand customers' requirements. (1 Swiss franc = 1.08 U.S. dollar)