Power grid and automation equipment maker ABB Ltd expects sales in China to continue growing 20 percent annually in the coming years.
The firm's forecast is based on demand for power infrastructure equipment and products to improve the energy efficiency of industrial processes, senior company officials said yesterday.
The expected growth is about double the projected rise - at eight to 11 percent a year - of ABB's worldwide sales from this year to 2011, according to Fred Kindle, chief executive officer of Zurich-based ABB.
"The growth should be similar with the rate for the 2004 to 2008 period," he told Shanghai Daily after a media briefing yesterday.
The company has set a target to grow its business by 20 percent annually in China from 2004 to 2008 and has thus far met the target, making China its largest market by sales this year.
The company estimated the entire Asian market will expand 52 percent to US$88 billion by 2011 for its and its rivals' products. If the forecast is met, Asia will overtake Europe as the largest regional market. China will account for half of Asia's total.
In the third quarter, Asia accounted for 24 percent of total orders of US$8.3 billion it got.
Orders from China grew 34 percent and by 40 percent in India in local currencies in the period, helping ABB to increase its profit 86 percent to US$738 million.
The robust growth has helped ABB to accumulate cash reserves of US$3.3 billion, resulting in speculation the company will make large-scale acquisitions soon to accelerate growth.
Kindle said they "have the ambition to make acquisitions" and had held talks with some companies about a takeover, but abandoned some opportunities as they were "too expensive."
"They should be strategically integrated, and the price must be right," he said.
The company is also open to acquisitions in China and other markets across Asia, but it has yet to locate the right target, said Kindle.