GE Says China Sales to Double in 4 - 5 Years

tsfrank

BEIJING (AP) -- General Electric Co. expects sales in China to double in the next four to five years while its research center here becomes a source of new products for global markets, chairman Jeff Immelt said Monday.

Immelt also announced that he signed an agreement Monday with China's government to invest up to $50 million to develop nonpolluting technologies.

GE's revenues in China last year totaled nearly $5 billion, and ''we think business could double again in the next four to five years,'' Immelt said at a news conference.

Immelt said GE also is expanding a Shanghai research center that employs 2,000 Chinese engineers and expected to produce new power generation, water filtration and other products that can be sold worldwide.

''Not only do I view China as a market, but I view it as a center of excellence'' for research, he said.

Under the new agreement with the Chinese government, the Fairfield, Conn.-based company said it also will provide management and leadership, training to up to 2,500 Chinese managers and government officials over the next five years.

GE also announced an agreement with Tsinghua University in Beijing to provide research for less environmentally damaging products.

Immelt said details of the research deal were still being worked out but he expected it to focus primarily on coal gasification and other energy-related fields and water filtration technology.

GE, which has 13,000 employees on China's mainland, said products already being sold in China with advanced environmental technologies include more fuel efficient engines and railway locomotives, water-saving irrigation systems and more easily recycled plastics, according to the company.