Appointment

Siemens appoints new China SVP

Meng Fanchen was appointed as senior vice president of Siemens China and general manager of its Shanghai branch. Meng is the first Chinese resident to be given a top managerial position in Siemens China, which is considered a significant move for the German company's localization strategy. Richard Hausmann, president and CEO of Siemens China, said he believed Shanghaiborn Meng would lead the company in market expansion and strengthening the long-term partnership with Shanghai. Siemens now has 45 venture companies in China and offices in 53 Chinese cities, with Shanghai as its business center on the mainland.

Deal

Veolia forms wastewater treatment JV Veolia Water signed a deal with Beijing Yanshan PetroChemicals (BYP), a subsidiary of Sinopec, to collect, treat and recycle industrial wastewater, Reuters reported. Under the 25-year deal, the French water treatment company will establish a 50:50 joint venture with BYP at BYP's Yanshan site, near Beijing. The venture will be managed by Veolia Water and the estimated revenues will total US$713.3 million over the period.

Launch

BASF plans joint MDI plant German chemical company BASF announced that it is considering, together with Huntsman Corp and a group of Chinese companies ¨C Shanghai Hua Yi Group, Sinopec Shanghai Gao Qiao Petrochemical Corp and Shanghai Chloro-Alkali Chemical - building a new MDI (diphenylmethane diisocyanate) plant in China.

The plant is designed to have an annual capacity of 400,000 metric tons of crude MDI. Several sites are being evaluated now and the startup is scheduled from 2010 onward. "The market for polyurethanes in China is expected to grow at a double-digit rate and will become the largest in the world within the next decade," said Jean-Pierre Dhanis, President of BASF's Polyurethanes division. "We want to participate in this dynamic growth, and better serve our customers through local production." Nokia to launch XpressMusic handsets in China Nokia (China) Investment announced that it will launch two XpressMusic handsets - N91 and 3250 - in China in the first quarter to compete with the music phones already released by its rivals like Motorola, Sony Ericsson and Amoi. Priced at US$856, the 4G hard-drive N91 will be able to store up to 3,000 songs. The Nokia 3250 is set to be priced at around US$496.

Opening

CBRE inaugurates Chengdu office CB Richard Ellis announced the opening of its new office in Chengdu, Sichuan province, in late January to strengthen its presence in China. The services provided by the new office will include property leasing, investment sales, consulting and property management business lines. "With the establishment of our Chengdu office, CB Richard Ellis will be able to develop local market intelligence into measurable results for clients in this expanding market," said Bob Blain, Chairman and CEO of CB Richard Ellis Asia Pacific. The US-based real estate services firm expects to capitalize on market opportunities arising from the growing demand for professional real estate services from both international and local clients within the western provinces of China.

Bayer MaterialScience to open more production facilities in China Bayer AG unit Bayer MaterialScience said it plans to put at least one worldclass industrial raw materials plant into operation a year until 2009 at the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park (SCIP), Shanghai Daily reported. The new plants will mainly focus on production of polyurethane, which is widely used in construction and refrigeration insulation, the paper said citing Peter Vanacker, head of the company's polyurethane sector. The plan includes a US$1.3 billion plant for making diphenylmethane diisocyanate, a type of polyurethane. The plant will become operational in 2008 with a production capacity of 350,000 metric tons a year, the world's biggest facility of its kind. The company earlier committed to investing US$1.8 billion in SCIP by 2009.

UPM-Kymmene to open new R&D Center in China Finnish paper manufacturer UPMKymmene plans to open a new R&D Center next to its existing Changshu paper mill located in Jiangsu province, at the beginning of 2007, Xinhua Finance reported.

The center will conduct research on fibers growing in the region to enhance UPM's competitiveness in local product applications and in the use of locally available fiber resources.

Others

SEB Shanghai receives approval for RMB Spot Foreign Exchange Swedish financial services provider SEB Group announced that its Shanghai branch received approval from the China State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) to conduct Spot Foreign Exchange business in RMB. "This will allow our clients in China to cover their foreign exchange needs in RMB as well as all convertible currencies directly with our team of dealers in our Shanghai branch trading room," said Eddie Amin, Head Trading & Capital Markets, SEB Shanghai. SEB has been present in China for more than 20 years through its office in Beijing and opened its Shanghai office in 2005.

Airbus to deliver 50 A330 aircraft to three major Chinese airlines by 2008 Airbus will deliver 50 A330 aircraft to three major Chinese airlines by 2008, reported Xinhua Finance, citing Airbus China president Laurence Barron. Barron was speaking at the ceremony for the delivery of an A330-300 to China Eastern Airlines in late January.

Luo Chaogeng, president of China Eastern Airlines, said the new plane will replace the A300-600 aircraft in China Eastern's current fleet to operate medium-and long-range routes.

In 2005, Airbus received 219 new orders from Chinese firms and delivered 65 aircraft to the country. This year Airbus plans to deliver 78 new aircraft to China, an increase of 20 percent, said Barron.

Dogi goes global

Mr Josep Domenech is Chairman of Dogi International Fabrics. Founded in 1954, Dogi Fabrics is a Spanish textile company and a European leader in the manufacturing of elastic fabrics.

Q: What are the specifications of your product?

Dogi is extremely aware that the future of our market sector revolves around detailed market research, in order for us able to offer leading products, which will advance upon the market's needs. The customer's continual search for an innovative type of product, more exclusive and more ideally adapted to their specifications and requirements, is recognized already and reassured also by current market performance.

The Dogi International Fabrics collections evolved from close relationships with the fiber suppliers and customer's specific market needs, to produce cutting edge technologically advanced products with optimal lead-time, quality and quick response service. Some current lines are:

New fabrics with micro-capsulation, a new technology that permits adaptive and interactive ingredients such as cosmetic creams, lotions, fragrances and oils.

"Invisible" is a family of products characterized by its extreme transparency, lightness, and compactness.

"Dream shape" is a highly technical product that improves the feminine appearance.

"Cotton Touch" is fabric that has a natural feel with the softness of cotton but without its inconveniences: no shrinkage, non-creasing, quick drying and most importantly, product life.

"Silky touch" permits the manufacturing of high quality and longer lasting garments of higher sheen and visible attraction.

"Sahara" has a soft and dry feel that, thanks to its special finishing, regulates body moisture and promotes ready evaporation.

Q: What are your main markets?

Dogi produces stretch weft and warp-knitted fabrics for underwear, lingerie, high fashion sportswear and swimwear. Products are sold to the world's leading brands, including Victoria's Secret, Sara Lee, Marks & Spencer, Chantelle, Vanity Fair, Speedo, Triumph., Underarmour, just to name a few.

Dogi also makes fabrics for sportswear where durability, comfort, breathability, waterproofness, high wickability and stretch are important features. Dogi was a direct supplier of fabric to Nike and Speedo for sportswear worn at the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

Q: What is the strategy of the group, and of the whole textile industry sector, to influence the market to buy fashion products that cannot be shown?

As mentioned, this is a product that cannot be shown, but through it we offer to our customers emotional values such as comfort, sensuality, glamour, elegance, freshness, femininity, delicacy and sophistication. This is the result of close interpersonal relations with the world's leading fashion designers from Europe for this challenging market. These relationships have been in existence since Dogi's beginnings in the 1950's, and all is based on total trust, confidence and flexibility.

Q: Why did you choose to settle the production site in Nanjing?

In 2001, Dogi bought several elastic fabric businesses, which Sara Lee/Courtaulds Inc had earlier acquired, from Courtaulds Textiles, and the most ideal of those factories was in Nanjing.

The global delocalization of western manufacturers to the countries which have cheaper labor, raw materials and direct running costs, such as China, and the growth of the local Chinese market led Dogi to be present in this market environment in order to meet the increasing demand in the region.