Toshiba: Establishment of Wuhan branch

 

Against the backdrop of a global economic downturn, Wuhan branch of Toshiba China held its grand opening ceremony on January 19. According to the experts, this indicates that Toshiba is taking advantage of the time-honored industrial foundation in Wuhan as well as the government-initiated Rise of Central China development strategy to further extend and deepen the company's industry integration ability. In 2008, Wuhan urban agglomeration was approved by the State Council to be the comprehensive reform-supporting and pilot area to build a national resource saving and environmentally friendly society.

 

Takaaki Tanaka, Corporate Representative Chairman of Toshiba China, said the Toshiba Group will take the opportunity to greatly enhance its product technology capabilities and overall strength in China under the themes of environmental protection and energy conservation. At the same time, aiming to "build a resource saving and environmentally friendly society", the company will promote its overall marketing strategy in the Wuhan comprehensive reform-supporting and pilot area to expand support for the sales and promotion of energy saving and environmentally friendly products.

 

Lexus: Unchanged strategy in China

 

"China has already become the second largest market worldwide for Lexus after the US. Although it has been affected by the financial crisis and witnessed slower growth in the automobile market, Lexus will not change its strategy in China," said Zeng Lintang, Deputy General Manager of Toyota Motor (China) Investment. Zeng spoke confidently about meeting the market challenges of this year at the annual dealership conference and unveiling of the Lexus Hybrid GS450h, a luxury sport sedan.

 

In 2008, thanks to its innovative products, localized development strategy and high quality services, Lexus had a growth rate of over 30 percent in sales even during the automobile market's "chilly winter", continuing to rank high among imported luxury automobile brands. GS450h will become Lexus' third hybrid car model to be sold in China. In 2009, its dealer network development plan will be carried out as originally planned. To date, Lexus owns 45 dealerships nationwide.

 

Fujitsu: Swimming against the tide showing its confidence in China

 

While many internationally known IT companies released news that they would cut employees, reduce production and shrink investments, Japan's Fujitsu Group swam against this tide. On January 7 in Suzhou, it established its 49th enterprise in China: Fujitsu Quality Laboratory (Suzhou). This company will be dedicated to helping Japanese enterprises to gain efficiency in quality examining and controlling of electric appliances and electronic parts in China. In the near future, it will also offer consulting services to Chinese manufacturers for improving the quality of their electric appliances and parts, supporting them to upgrade both product quality and technology.

 

Due to the large scale global economic depression caused by the financial crisis, by the end of 2008, the impact felt by the IT industry was more and more apparent. Both decreases in turnover and reductions of profit became common phenomena. Since entering the Chinese market in 1979, Fujitsu has never stopped increasing its investment in China or accelerating its business model. Its current actions are not just another great achievement, but demonstrating its confidence in the Chinese market.

 

"China's policies for stimulating economic growth offered even more investment opportunities to enterprises like Fujitsu. Fujitsu believes that the successful cooperation between it and its Chinese business partners can dramatically increase business in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and America, driving overseas markets to recover quickly. Fujitsu has huge advantages in technology innovation and localization for all its products including servers, digital storage products and PCs, network security products, industry solutions and application software," Fujitsu China General Manager Takeda Haruhito said. "We have confidence in our ability to serve the Chinese market well, to seize opportunities in the crisis, and to grow and soar with the Chinese economy."