China is now the single largest market for clean technology products and services. And the country’s latest five year plan is only accelerating cleantech adoption. How can cleantech companies based elsewhere do business in China most effectively? Kachan & Co. surveyed 48 China-based experts for their tips and advice.
Successful Cleantech Cooperation in China
Insights and recommendations for companies seeking to do cleantech business in China
A report by Kachan & Co., March 2012.
China’s size and growth present opportunities for global companies in every cleantech-related sector. Chinese demand in energy, resources, industrial production and consumer products mean vast prospects for cleaner, greener and more efficient development of all sectors.
Western cleantech companies from around the globe are entering China all along the life-cycle chain, whether for R&D; collaboration, speeding up the commercialization phase, tapping growing markets, or using China as a base for global strategies and endeavors.
And they're making mistakes. Top challenges Western companies face in China include building collaborative business relationships, managing intellectual property and competing in hyper-fast changing local markets.
We interviewed leading cleantech professionals in China about ways to overcome these challenges.
Report essential for
- Cleantech companies considering doing business in China
- Companies already doing business in China
- Governments
- Service providers
- And others
Kachan administered an online survey in January 2012 with senior China-based professionals extensively involved in cleantech, and interviewed six senior cleantech executives in China.
Respondents covered four functional areas—investment and finance, entrepreneurs, professional services, and non-government organizations, and included leading Chinese, Western or joint-venture organizations such as Suez Environmental, Deloitte, Tsing Capital, Climate Group, National Resource Development Council, China Energy Conservation Center, Guodian United Power, Camco International, Holcim Investments, U.S.-China Clean Air Task Force, China Materialia, Siemens Energy Center, Covanta and Applied Materials.
Six face-to-face interviews took place during February 2012 with Bo Lu, Executive Vice President, Lattice Power (a leading LED technology developer); Stephen Scoones, Director of Marketing, Greenkey (an lubrication oil cleaning and re-use solution); Guy Rong, CEO, Suntrix (a leading Chinese concentrated solar photo-voltaic (CPV) provider); Peter Corne, Managing Partner—Shanghai, Dorsey & Whitney (an international law firm); Walter Ge, Director, New Ventures China (a non-government organization helping Chinese cleantech companies accelerate market adoption) and David Gong, a long-time cleantech investor, entrepreneur and advisor.
About the author
Jim Mahoney, Managing Director China, Kachan & Co., is former Chinese managing director of the Cleantech Group and ran the company’s Cleantech Forum events in Beijing and Shanghai. He has been in China 17 of the last 20 years, and is fluent in Mandarin. He’s responsible for Kachan's Northern Cleantech Showcase events in Beijing and Shanghai and consults to international companies seeking to do business in China.
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"To be successful, they need to have a technology or solution that is innovative, need to create a real cost reduction or provide needed management and know-how capabilities."
-From the report