Sanyo Electric Co Ltd vowed yesterday in Beijing to further enhance its market penetration in the world's most populous country.

"We are determined to tap the demand in the Chinese market by strengthening our presence here,'' said Yukinori Kuwano, president of Sanyo Electric.

The rapid growth of the Chinese economy has created a great business opportunity for the firm, he said.

The company is likely to achieve sales of 2.3 trillion yen (US$21.29 billion) this year, a 10 per cent growth year-on-year.

The company demonstrated its latest home appliance products in the past two days in Beijing, seeking more business opportunities from dealers and major clients.

"We are going to make China a target for our growth in global sales,'' said Eiji Kotobuki, chief operating officer of Sanyo Electric's Home Appliances Group.

He outlined the company's plan to boost sales in China to 30 per cent of the company's total sales by 2005.

In an effort to achieve the goal, Kotobuki said that Sanyo Electronic will make China a development, design and manufacturing centre for its home appliances products. Products here will be not only sold within the country, but also distributed to neighbouring countries and regions such as India and the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries.

Figures from the company show that Sanyo has already set up 13 companies in China focusing mainly on manufacturing.

"We are going to kick off a new research organization here to especially focus on cellular phones next year,'' he told reporters yesterday.

In another development, Kotobuki said Sanyo is going to introduce more new products into the Chinese market such as multifunction healthcare chairs and high-definition video products.

According to him, the Bohai economic rim, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta will be the focus for the sales of its products.

Rumour has it that Sanyo has teamed up with the Chinese home appliance giant Haier Group to enhance its penetration of the Chinese market.

"We are now exchanging information with Haier Group and Samsung Electronics to hammer out possible co-operation,'' Kotobuki said.

However, he said nothing had gone beyond the negotiation level and that it was not the right time to make any detailed announcements about the co-operation.

Close

Today's Top News		Top Business News
+Katsav appreciates China's contribution to Mideast stability ( 2003-12-17) +Constitution amendments to be discussed ( 2003-12-17) +Re-election for district legislature completed ( 2003-12-17) +China stresses UN's role to end violence ( 2003-12-17) +Civil servants get pay raise ( 2003-12-17)		+Firm finds CEOs' important role ( 2003-12-17) +Dow eyes new China facility ( 2003-12-17) +Sanyo plans major China sales move ( 2003-12-17) +EDF lauds China stance on nuclear power plant ( 2003-12-17) +Huaneng buys half of major overseas generating firm ( 2003-12-17)