The Yuanda Group uses technology to win bids

While other Chinese companies are struggling for overseas business this year, the Yuanda Group is handily winning contracts with its cutting-edge technologies.

The Yuanda Group, with headquarters in Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning province, is the largest architectural curtain wall maker in China.

In addition to making building facades, the company also makes elevators, mechanical equipment and wind power systems.

Yuanda Group curtain walls can be fou2nd in 30 countries, and its elevators are in use in more than 130 countries.

In 2008, the Yuanda Group reported revenues of 18.03 billion yuan.

The company is proving just as successful this year.

He Xianwen, chief economic manager of the Yuanda Group, the largest architectural curtain wall maker in China, says that developing cutting-edge technologies helps the Shenyang-based company outpace the competition year after year. Zhang Wei

In April, Yuanda Group won a curtain wall contract worth 300 million yuan in Dubai, the most populous city of the United Arab Emirates.

This followed its 1.7 billion yuan project in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, in October 2008.

During the first four months of 2009, Yuanda Group revenues increased year-on-year by 12.5 percent to 4.4 billion yuan.

Of that amount, the company's global customers contributed 1.88 billion yuan.

He Xianwen, Yuanda Group's chief economic manager, credits the company's technology leadership for its continued growth.

"Through alliances with research institutes at home and abroad, we have developed leading technologies of our own," He said.

Yuanda Group introduced the technology for a frequency converter, a core part of elevators, based on its work with Emotron, a company in Sweden, he said.

The first Chinese-made frequency converter technology likely will be introduced by the end of this year, he said.

The company's work with research institutes in Germany has helped Yuanda Group develop wind-driven electric generators specifically designed for wind conditions in China.

"Generally, there are more sands in the winds in China. Wind power technologies imported from foreign companies may not be suitable to such conditions," He said.

Yuanda Group entered the wind power business in 2007 with an initial investment of 50 million yuan.

A pilot generator is being tested, and it could be ready for large-scale production by next year, He said.

"Working with research institutes or other companies is a faster way to improve our technologies versus starting from scratch," he said.

Yuanda Group dedicates 4 percent of its revenues to research and development each year.

The company now has 27 registered patents and 15 more patent applications.

The global financial crisis has provided an opportunity to attract outside talents to the company, he said.

"A competitor of ours went bankrupt last year, and a top expert and his team joined Yuanda Group to establish a curtain wall research group in Europe. This has greatly upgraded our competitiveness," He said.

But He admitted that this year's economic downturn has its down side, too.

"Fluctuations of foreign exchange rates are a big threat to our profits. Besides, the crisis has also caused a decrease of market demand," He said.

The domestic market is going to have a major effect on this year's projected earnings, he said. Yuanda Group plans to realize revenues of 22 billion yuan in 2009.

The (national government's) 4 trillion yuan stimulus package allocates a heavy portion to construction of airports and railway stations," He said, adding that his company will aggressively bid for those projects.

"A big obstacle for us now is regional protectionism. Local governments tend to outsource projects to local enterprises," He added.

Next up for Yuanda Group is getting listed on a stock exchange.

"We are considering listing on a domestic stock exchange such as Shanghai or Hong Kong, but we don't exclude the possibility of getting listed in the United States," He said.

(China Daily 08/03/2009 page7)