German engineering conglomerate Siemens plans to invest €1bn (£679m) in China over the next few years as part of an ambitious plan to double revenues in the country.
Part of the investment will go to its new headquarters in Beijing, while the remainder will mostly be used to expand Siemen's various business subsidiaries, as well as to beef up research and manufacturing facilities in China, the firm said in a statement.
"As part of this strategy, the company will double the number of regional offices from the current 28 to 60 in order to ensure a presence in all of the country's provinces," Siemens said.
In addition, the firm plans to ramp up the production of mobile handsets at its Shanghai plant from 14 million to 20 million units annually. Earlier this month, Siemens appointed local handset manufacturer Ningbo Bird as the main distributor of its phones in China and the two companies also agreed to jointly develop products for domestic and international markets.
Beyond its cellular phone division, Siemens said other business units specialising in areas like power generation, transportation, lighting and medical systems, would also be strengthened.
According to Siemen's chief executive Heinrich von Pierer, the billion-euro boost is expected to lift the company’s sales in China from €4bn euros last year to €8bn in the near future.
"We see good chances of doubling today's sales volume in the next three to five years, von Pierer said. "We would thus grow faster than the Chinese market. And we would increase China's share of our worldwide business."
Besides being a sales stronghold, China will also serve as an important procurement base for Siemen's global operations. The firm said it aims to triple the value of its procurement activities in the country to €5bn by 2004.
Siemens currently owns 45 companies and joint ventures and employs around 30,000 workers in mainland China.
