The ABB Group was formed in 1988, when the Swedish Asea and the Swiss BBC Brown Boveri merged under the name of ABB, each holding 50% interests. Asea's history dates back to 1883. BBC Brown Boveri was founded in 1891. ABB is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, under the leadership of chairman Juergen Dormann and CEO Fred Kindle.

ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group has about 102,000 employees in around 100 countries. Reporting about $21 billion revenues in 2004, ABB is a Fortune 500 company.

ABB invented, built and brought into commercial operation the world's first tri-phase power transmission system as well as the world's first self-cooling transformer. Today ABB has a broad product portfolio including power transformers and distribution transformers, various kinds of switchgears and circuit breakers, high-voltage and medium-voltage products and technologies, AC and DC transmission and distribution systems, utility automation systems, measurement and sensor devices, real-time control and optimization systems, robot hardware and software and simulation, energy-saving motors and drives, power quality, conversion and synchronization systems, fuses and switchgears for power system protection, and low-voltage products and systems.

ABB's relationship with China dates back to the beginning of the last century, when we supplied the country with a steam boiler in 1907. In 1974, the ABB in China operation was formally established in Hong Kong, which was followed by our first permanent office in Beijing in 1979. In 1994, we took a decisive step forward and moved our China headquarters to Beijing. One year later, we set up ABB (China) Limited in Beijing. Today we have more than 8,000 employees in around 20 legal entities, 17 of which are joint venture companies with local partners. ABB ranked top in the Best Employer survey by Watson Waytt, Fortune China and Sohu in 2003.

By setting up joint ventures and wholly-owned companies across the country, ABB China has built up strong production, engineering and service bases in the fields of power transmission and distribution, automation products and systems. Our portfolio in China includes the full range of power transformers and distribution transformers; switchgear technologies for high-, medium- and low-voltage applications, electrical drives and motors. These products are used in industrial, commercial and utility applications.

ABB achieved sales around $2.6 billion in China in 2004, making it our largest market after the U.S. and Germany. ABB China's goal is to double its sales to $4 billion by 2008, to become the second largest market for ABB worldwide. To achieve this ambitious goal, ABB China will hire an additional 5,000 talented and well-educated employees, increasing the pool of its employees in China to 12,000 by 2008. ABB has defined its strategy for profitable growth in China, which includes maintaining organic growth, investing in new product lines and factories, buying materials locally and using them to build complete product lines, opening a new global R&D center in Beijing, and developing local talent.

Major orders ABB won recently in China include:

• $390 million contract for the Three Gorges-Shanghai HVDC project, the world's largest power transmission project in 2004
•  $360 million contract for the Three Gorges-Guangdong HVDC project
• Electrical equipment for metro systems and light rails in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Tianjin
• $40 million contract to supply process automation, drive, quality control and electrical systems and related services for Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) in China
• $24 million contract to supply hoist equipment for 8 coal mines of Huainan Mining Group
• $60 million contract to supply one 500kv GIS and 12 power transformers for the Right Bank Power Plant at Three Gorges
• $5.5 million (RMB55 million) contract to supply world's largest cold annealing and pickling processing line to Taiyuan Iron & Steel (Group) Co., Ltd. in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province
• $6 million (RMB50 million) contract from the East China Electrical Power Group Corporation (ECEPGC) for integrated IT systems which will increase the East China Electric Power Grid's efficiency and provide it with the country's first regional trading system
• $11 million order to supply high-voltage GIS for Phase II project of Jiaxing Power Plant in Zhejiang Province
• $200 million order from Shanghai SECCO Petrochemical Company to provide an innovative propylene process technology which cuts energy consumption and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. It is the first time this technology has been used in China.

In 1999, China's former president Jiang Zemin visited ABB's facilities for turbine leafs, coil, motor, rotors production and welding in Switzerland. In 2004, China's vice premier Zeng Peiyan paid a visit to ABB Corporate Technology in Switzerland.

ABB Chairman Juergen Dormann is an advisor to the mayor of Beijing and Dinesh Paliwal, head of ABB's global Automation Technologies business and manager for the Americas, is an advisor to Guangdong province.

In the future, ABB remains committed to China, and the long-term sustainable development of the country. We would like China to be ABB's second largest market in short time. Specifically, we plan to double sales to around $4 billion by 2008. To achieve this, we have set forth a five-point strategy:

• Organic growth: we plan to grow at least 20 percent per year in the run-up to 2008
• New investments: we will invest at least $100 million in new product lines and factories in the run-up to 2008. For example, we recently opened a new relays business in Xiamen
• Cost migration.
• New research and development center in Beijing will open March 30. Part of ABB's global network of corporate laboratories around the world.
• Developing local talent. An important part in ABB's five-point plan, it involves hiring an additional 5,000 employees - highly talented and well educated - in the run-up to 2008.

ABB in Guangdong

• 2 Joint ventures, ABB Zhongshan Transformer Co., Ltd., ABB Xinhui Low Voltage Switchgear Co., Ltd.
• 1 holding company branch in Guangzhou

Editor: Donald