Japanese automation giant Omron Corp has pledged to substantially increase its presence in the Chinese market in the coming years in a bid to help realize its goal of building a "Second Omron'' in China, China Daily learned yesterday.

A major part of the pledge is the establishment of the Omron China Centralized Purchasing Centre which was recently put into operation in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province.

According to figures from Omron (China) Group Co Ltd headquartered in Shanghai, the purchasing centre is expected to purchase 24 billion Japanese yen (US$200 million) of local materials and parts in 2003 and increase the purchasing volume to 44 billion Japanese yen (US$366 million) in 2005. The figure for present local purchasing is not available.

Tadao Tateisi, senior director of the Board of Omron Corp, said that China is playing an increasingly important role in the global economic arena and his company has full confidence in the future of China's economic development.

At the same time, China is an important overseas market for Omron and is also the most important area for the company's 10-year business plan.

Yasuhira Minagawa, general manager of Omron (China) Group, said that in April 2002, Omron established its China headquarters in Shanghai and has vowed to establish a "Second Omron'' in China. Operation of the purchasing centre will help the company fully integrate into the Chinese market through the building of a complete business structure ranging from research and development to procurement, production and sales.

"Establishment of the China purchasing centre is an important step towards realizing Omron's strategic goals in China,'' he said.

Omron has set up five manufacturing plants and two manufacturing support facilities in China.

Until the establishment of the purchasing centre, each of the plants carried out its purchasing activities independently. The purchasing centre is therefore expected to help promote the evaluation and approval of local raw materials to broaden local procurement, carry out centralized control of purchasing information concerning materials and suppliers, and reduce purchasing costs.

Close

Today's Top News		Top Business News
+The next great leap after Shenzhou V ( 2003-10-21) +Hu calls for balanced development ( 2003-10-21) +Report: SARS not airborne virus ( 2003-10-21) +Japan urged to resolve weapons issue ( 2003-10-21) +Int'l AIDS group opens Beijing office ( 2003-10-21)		+Home-appliance giants want wheels ( 2003-10-21) +Exchange-rate reform under study ( 2003-10-21) +Health insurance sector called for ( 2003-10-21) +SanDisk teams up to open outlets ( 2003-10-21) +Housing prices start to sag in Shanghai ( 2003-10-21)