Siemens yesterday said its sales and new orders in China both saw 19 percent growth in fiscal year 2008 despite the economic slowdown.

Last year sales and new orders of Siemens China surged to 57 billion yuan and 65.5 billion yuan, respectively. "In face of a global economic downturn the results of our China operations again contribute significantly to our global performance," said Richard Hausmann, CEO of Siemens Northeast Asia and president & CEO of Siemens Ltd China.

The company is mapping out a series of mid-term strategies to sustain its growth momentum and boost market positions, said Hausmann.

"Reflecting China's 4 trillion yuan economic stimulus program, we will continue to focus on rural development, environmental portfolio and local innovation," he said.

Siemens has recently announced a reorganization of its businesses into three sectors - industry, energy and healthcare. In the last year the company secured big deals in China in all three areas.

For instance, in the energy sector, Siemens secured a contract of more than 1.7 billion yuan to build the high voltage direct current transmission (HVDC) link from the Xiangjiaba hydro-electric power plant in southwestern China to Shanghai.

With a transmission capacity of 6,400 megawatts and a length of more than 2,000 km, the planned HVDC transmission link will be the longest in the world and will have the highest capacity of its kind.

Siemens earlier said its environmental portfolio would generate order intake of 4 billion euros in China in 2010, which equals 40 percent of the company's total orders in China for the year.

More than half of the company's 1 billion euro mid-term investment in China until 2010 will go into energy-saving and environmentally friendly technologies and solutions.

China now is the third largest market for Siemens, next to Germany and US. The company has a nationwide network of more than 90 operating companies and 61 regional offices.

(China Daily December 5, 2008)