【英语中国】通用电气在中国面临重重压力

Comments about China made last week by General Electric Co. (GE) chief Jeffrey Immelt reflect the recent strains on the company's business in that country, where it has long held high hopes.

During a private gathering in Rome, Mr. Immelt had said it is getting harder for foreign companies to do business in China, according to people who heard his comments.

Mr. Immelt is under pressure to show growth in his industrial businesses to get the company's lagging stock price moving as he scales back its one-time profit engine, GE Capital. Its shares now trade for $14.83 apiece, down from $38.43 in April 2008. GE, which has 13,000 employees in China, has pinned much of its hopes for growth on Chinese markets.

But GE faces increased competition in China as its government promotes homegrown companies and more Western competitors seek business there. Globally, Chinese wind-power companies are eroding GE's market share in wind turbines, and the Fairfield, Conn., conglomerate has faced setbacks in selling aircraft electronics there.

Two years ago, Mr. Immelt said GE wanted to achieve $10 billion in sales in China by this year. Its China revenue totaled about $5.3 billion in 2009, up from $4.7 billion in 2008. It is the company's fifth-biggest market by sales.

After Mr. Immelt's comments emerged from a June 30 gathering in Rome, GE said its approach to China hadn't changed, and that it continued to view the country as an 'important and attractive market.'

On Thursday, a spokeswoman said GE was 'honored to partner with key players' in fast-growing Chinese markets, such as aviation, health care, energy and railroad equipment.

There have been some successes. In health care, its imaging equipment has sold strongly in China, and Mr. Immelt has said health-care revenues could exceed $1 billion there this year. GE has said it is hiring another 1,000 salespeople for imaging equipment this year.

But elsewhere, the picture is less rosy. GE's high hopes for its wind-turbine business, for instance, have run into fierce competition from Chinese rivals. Last year, Danish research firm BTM Consult Aps reported that GE held the second-biggest share of the global wind-turbine market, but its slice of the pie shrank to 12.4% from 18.5% a year earlier.

Chinese wind-turbine makers such as Sinovel Wind, Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology (002202.SZ) and Dongfang Electric (600875.SH)--buoyed by China's national spending on wind energy--grew rapidly, stealing share from world leaders such as Denmark's Vestas Wind Systems A/S (VWDRY) and GE, and now rank among the top 10 wind turbine producers globally.

Inside China, GE has faced other challenges. In April, China Commercial Aircraft Co., or Comac, selected Hamilton Sundstrand, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. (UTX), to supply the $1 billion worth of electric power generation and distribution systems for a proposed jet plane instead of GE and other bidders.

Separately, in November GE disclosed a 50-50 joint venture with Comac parent Aviation Industry Corp. of China to jointly supply avionics systems for jetliner makers globally. At the time, GE executives said they expected the joint venture to launch by the middle of the year.

It hasn't launched yet. GE says talks are ongoing and it doesn't view the deal as delayed. 'They're working out all the details,' said a spokeswoman at GE Aviation. 'It could happen any day now.' Anne Eisele, another GE spokeswoman, says the joint venture is expected to be operational by 2011.

Complicating the GE alliance, AVIC is also pursuing a similar and potentially competing joint venture with Honeywell International Inc. (HON), the Phoenix-based maker of flight control systems. Honeywell is also hoping to supply components for Comac's proposed C919 narrow body jet. 'We remain optimistic regarding the C919 avionics, but cannot speculate on the outcome,' said Ms. Eisele. 'We look forward to it being announced.'

Elsewhere in its aviation business, GE has some successes, winning contracts to make engines for two models of Chinese aircraft, for instance.

In GE's coal business, it entered an agreement in November with Shenhua Group Corp., a Chinese coal company, to license, build and sell coal gasification technologies in China. GE said, at the time, it expected the transaction would be complete in the first half of 2010.

A spokeswoman at GE Power & Water, however, said the negotiations are still 'in progress.' GE already has licensed 40 coal gasification facilities in China. It still hopes for a joint venture that would allow it to expand dramatically there.

GE is trying to promote its edge in advanced electricity transmission and distribution systems collectively known as smart grid. GE estimates the smart grid market in China is a potentially $60 billion over the next 10 years. Its primary customer is State Grid Corp. of China, which covers electricity distribution for much of the country. GE's success hinges on creating a strong alliance with State Grid.

But State Grid is also GE's biggest potential rival. State Grid wants to develop smart-grid know-how and machinery on its own.

State Grid is developing technology standards and is lobbying the Chinese government to adopt them in order to cement its domestic market dominance.

通用电气公司（General Electric Co.）全球董事长兼首席执行长伊梅尔特（Jeffrey Immelt）上周关于中国的言论反映了该公司近期在中国做生意所遭遇的压力，而通用电气一直对中国寄予厚望。

据听到该评论的人说，在罗马举行的一次私人聚会上，伊梅尔特曾说，现在外国企业在中国做生意越来越难了。

在公司风光一时的获利引擎通用金融（GE Capital）缩小规模之际，伊梅尔特承受着彰显其工业部门增长的压力，以使落后的股价上涨。目前通用电气股价为每股14.83美元，低于2008年4月时的38.43美元。通用电气一直对其在中国市场的增长寄予厚望，目前公司在中国有13,000名雇员。

但通用电气在中国面临的竞争加剧，因中国政府努力推动本土企业，而且更多西方竞争者在中国寻找业务。全球来说，中国的风力发电企业正在蚕食通用电气的风力涡轮机市场份额，通用电气在中国的航空电子仪器销售也有所下滑。

两年前伊梅尔特曾表示，通用电气希望今年在中国的销售额达到100亿美元，2009年其在中国的总收入约为53亿美元，高于2008年的47亿美元。按销售额计算，中国是通用电气的第五大市场。

伊梅尔特6月30日在罗马的言论浮出水面后，通用电气表示，其在中国的政策没有改变，依然把中国当作“重要且具有吸引力的市场。”

周四一位女发言人说，通用电气有幸与中国快速发展的市场中的主要领域进行合作，这些领域包括航空、医疗保健、能源和铁路设备等。

目前已取得一些成功。在医疗保健行业，其成像设备在中国销售旺盛，伊梅尔特曾说，今年在中国的医疗保健方面的销售收入可能将超过10亿美元。该公司还曾表示，今年成像设备部门将招聘1,000名销售人员。

但其他方面就不是这么理想了。例如通用电气寄予希望的风力涡轮机业务就与中国对手陷入了激烈的竞争。去年丹麦研究机构BTM Consult Aps报告称，通用电气在全球风力涡轮机市场中占有第二大的份额，但其比重已从一年前的18.5%下降至12.4%。

诸如华锐风电科技有限公司（Sinovel Wind）、新疆金风科技股份有限公司（Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology）及东方电机有限公司（Dongfang Electric）等中国风力涡轮机生产企业，因中国国家对风能的支出而得到支持，它们快速增长，已从全球领先的丹麦维斯塔斯风力系统有限公司（Vestas Wind Systems A/S）和通用电气等公司那里抢占了市场份额，目前跻身全球十大风力涡轮机生产企业行列。

在中国，通用电气还面临着其他挑战。4月份，中国商用飞机有限公司选择了联合技术公司(United Technologies Corp.)旗下子公司汉胜(Hamilton Sundstrand)为其提供价值10亿美元的发电及配电系统用于一款计划中的喷气式飞机，而没有选择通用电气和其他投标者。

另外，去年11月，通用电气透露将与中国商用飞机有限公司的母公司中国航空工业集团公司各出资一半成立合资企业，以便联手为全球的喷气式客机制造商提供航空电子系统。当时，通用电气高管说，他们预计合资企业将于今年年中前成立。

到目前为止，这个合资企业还没有成立。通用电气说，正在进行谈判，它不认为是延期了。通用航空(GE Aviation)的一位发言人说，他们正在制定全部的细节。通用电气的另外一位发言人艾塞尔(Anne Eisele)说，目前随时可能会成立，预计合资企业将于2011年前投入运营。

令通用电气的联盟更加复杂的是，中国航空工业集团公司也在寻求与位于美国凤凰城的飞行控制系统制造商霍尼韦尔(Honeywell International Inc.)成立一家类似的、可能会与通用电气合资企业形成竞争关系的合资企业。霍尼韦尔还希望为中国商用飞机有限公司计划中的C919窄体喷气式飞机提供组件。艾塞尔说，我们对C919的航空电子系统仍很乐观，不过无法猜测结果会怎样，我们期待着它的宣布。

在通用电气的其他航空业务领域，它获得了一些成功，比如，赢得了为两款中国飞机生产引擎的合同。

在通用电气的煤炭业务上，去年11月，它与中国煤炭企业神华集团有限责任公司达成了协议，在中国申请煤气化技术的许可、并进行生产和销售。当时，通用电气说，预计交易将于2010年上半年完成。

不过，通用电气旗下的GE Power & Water的一位发言人说，谈判仍“在进行中”。通用电气已经在中国为40个煤气化工厂申请了许可证。它仍然希望成立一家合资企业，帮助其在中国大规模扩大业务。

通用电气正在努力增强在先进的输配电系统（即所谓的智能电网）领域的优势。通用电气估计，未来10年中，中国的智能电网市场有望达到600亿美元的规模。它最大的客户是中国国家电网公司，该公司覆盖了中国大部分地区的配电。通用电气的成功依赖于与国家电网建立了强大的联盟。

不过，国家电网也是通用电气最大的潜在竞争对手。国家电网希望自主开发智能电网技术和设备。

国家电网正在开发技术标准，并在游说中国政府加以采用，以便巩固其在中国国内市场上的主导地位。