A Siemens logo is pictured on an office building of Siemens AG in Munich, May 30, 2014. (Photo : Reuters)
A management board member and chief technology officer (CTO) said that China is still one of the biggest markets for Siemens AG. The company is a German multinational conglomerate that remains optimistic about China's future.
Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, Siegfried Russwurm said that China's GDP growth rate of 6.9 percent in 2015 is still among the fastest globally. He added that China is still one of the biggest markets in the world based on its growth rate and size of the economy, believing that the Chinese market, where Siemens had witnessed rapid growth, still has a great future.
According to China.org, the country is not only a user but also a contributor to the development of Industry 4.0, which is regarded by many as the fourth industrial revolution.
Being among the pioneers in the promotion and use of smart technologies, also called Industry 4.0 in Germany, Siemens is one of the first corporations to establish smart factories in China.
Russwurm pointed out that the electronic product company of Siemens in Shenzhen in southern China is naturally considered "the icon of the factory of the future."
According to the CTO, Siemens has a formidable research and development team in China, which contributed to the worldwide notion of the fourth industrial revolution.
China is a big part of the global economy, and it would be considered in the same capacity as other markets in a digital and global world.
Russwurm said, "We have to learn as a global company not to treat China and Chinese companies differently from customers somewhere else on the globe."
The CTO believes that there is no difference between Siemens factories in China and those in Germany.
He also talked about labor costs in affluent Chinese cities like Shanghai and Shenzhen, which he compared to Mexico and East Europe. The CTO, who is also a governing body member of the Industry 4.0 movement, also applauded the collaboration between the Germany platform and its Chinese counterparts in the fourth industrial revolution initiative.
