GE Plastics Shifts Asia Pacific Headquarters to
Shanghai; Company Cites Growth of Customer Base in China
SHANGHAI, PRC--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 26, 2002--With a large,
growing customer base in China, GE Plastics, a division of General
Electric Company (NYSE: GE) with global headquarters in Pittsfield,
Mass. U.S.A., today announced that it will transfer its Asia Pacific
headquarters to Shanghai this year. The company made its announcement
at Chinaplas 2002, taking place from June 25 through 29 at the
Shanghai New International Expo Center in Shanghai. (Booth #2E46).
Everything we do is driven by our desire to be close to our
customers---figuratively and literally, said Wayne M. Hewett,
President of GE Plastics Asia Pacific. With the rapid growth of our
customer base in China--not to mention our revenues and
investments--moving our headquarters to Shanghai is an important
strategic move for our business.
GE Plastics currently employs approximately 750 people in China,
and has compounding facilities in Nansha and Pudong, Shanghai, an
eSolution Center and a Customer Innovation Center, also in Shanghai.
The business has invested about US$30 million in the last three years
in the facilities in Shanghai. From 2001 to first half of 2002, order
volume has increased by approximately 30 percent. As a result, the
company has doubled its commercial resources in China in the last two
years.
To further drive growth and maintain its leadership role in
engineering thermoplastics in China, the company in April of this year
announced plans to acquire Zhongshan Plastech Sunsheet Co. Ltd., a
Chinese polycarbonate multi-wall manufacturer in Zhongshan City of
South China's Guangdong Province.
In conjunction with the new GE Global Research Center scheduled to
open in Shanghai in 2003, GE Plastics will establish a new Technology
Center at the Research Center. This GE Plastics' facility is designed
to develop new products and applications for customers in Asia.
Approximately 150 employees are expected to work at the facility by
the end of 2003.
Technology and innovation are cornerstones of our business, and
our new Technology Center underscores our commitment to our growing
customer base in China and throughout Asia, said Hewett.
The headquarters move will begin in the third quarter of 2002, and
initially include Hewett and several of his senior staff members.
Additional staff operations will follow, and the move will be
completed in the first quarter of 2003. A significant number of staff,
including the GE Plastics Asia Pacific Marketing organization, will
remain in Tokyo where the company operates a Customer Specification
Center.
GE Plastics Pacific employs approximately 1,400 employees in Asia
Pacific and has compounding facilities in Moka, Japan; Chung-ju,
Korea; Nansha and Shanghai, People's Republic of China; Singapore;
Rayong, Thailand; Dandenong, Australia; and Bangalore, India.
GE Plastics is the world's leading producer of engineering
thermoplastics, with major production facilities worldwide. GE
Plastics materials, including LEXAN(R) polycarbonate, are used in a
wide variety of applications such as CDs, automobile parts, computer
housings, cookware, outdoor signage, cell phones, bullet resistant
shielding and building materials. Through its LNP Engineering Plastics
business, the company is a worldwide leader in the custom compounding
of engineering thermoplastics. GE Plastics is also a global
distributor of resins through GE Polymerland, and of sheet, film, rod
and tube products through GE Polymershapes and GE Structured Products.
The company's web site is located at www.geplastics.com.
(R) LEXAN is a registered trademark of General Electric Company.
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CONTACT: GE Plastics
Pam Wickham, 413-448-7383
[email protected]
or
GE Plastics Pacific
Cecilia Siu, 81-3-3568-1574
[email protected]
or
GE China
Aoshuang Xiao, 021-6288-1088 x 160
[email protected]
or
Hill & Knowlton
Doreen Cheung/Joyce Xu, 021-6218-6150
[email protected]