Glass producer pins hopes on high-tech for business growth

Cao Dewang, founder and chairman of the Fuyao Glass Industry Group Co Ltd, said an economy based on manufacturing, with a high-tech focus, makes the most sense.

Cao said such an economy is more sustainable, in a speech he delivered to international college students from the University of Cincinnati on Friday.

"I'll never forget my initial vision of only doing one thing well－making automotive glass. It took 35 years to get here. I began working (for Fuyao) as a salesperson. The history of Fuyao is my history. Today, we are the largest auto glass maker in the world," Cao said.

He spoke at the Global Economic and Career Outlook Summit, organized by the Greater Cincinnati Chinese Chamber of Commerce and the Regional Economic Development Initiative Cincinnati.

Fuyao, founded in 1987, now has factories in nine countries and in five US states. It provides glass for millions of vehicles a year, Cao said. It has higher production capacity than the other five major auto-glass makers combined and serves major brands such as Ford, BMW and Toyota.

Cao said the economic culture is changing, and it is difficult to find enough skilled workers in the US. Most skilled workers at Fuyao Glass America are over 60 years old, and many had watched such manufacturing jobs go to other countries in recent decades.

There is a need to utilize robotics to improve productivity, Cao said.

"The US calls it the internet industry, Europe calls it Industry 4.0. In principal, industry wants to use machines to improve productivity and lower costs," he said. "We want, in two to five years, to become the company with the strongest technology. We aim to bring new technology and innovation to the industry. We want not only to be the largest in size but also the best in terms of technology."

Cao invited the students to join Fuyao Glass America and its vision.

"We desperately need new technicians with software skills to run robots. The internet industry is more complicated. However, we will work toward that goal no matter what," said Cao.

He said Fuyao is already undertaking various technological innovation projects.

After $400 million in investment, Fuyao Glass America has started to see a profit, Cao said.

In Moraine, Ohio alone, Fuyao employs more than 2,300 people with prospects of hiring more next year. The company also plans to build a new factory in the US.

Cao criticized Wall Street for creating a virtual economy without creating real value, saying that is what drags an economy down.

"It's time we go back to good old-fashioned manufacturing," he said.

Cao said he hopes China and the US can find a way to solve their differences in the current trade conflict, as he sees the relationship between the US and China as highly complementary.

"I sell, you buy," he said. "If you have no need, would you buy from me? If I don't make money, would I sell to you? Nobody is hurting anybody in trade," Cao said.

In the past 40 years, both China and the US have benefitted from each other's trade, Cao said.

"China has done a lot of low-level work that supplied products to the US, and China learned how to develop an economy from the US," he said. "China needs the US; the US needs China."