SWEDEN-BASED industrial titan Atlas Copco Group will stay committed to consolidating its presence in China to tap the enormous potential of an increasingly smart and green industrial sector, according to the group’s CEO.

“China is leading, not following, in so many sectors. We need to follow the leaders to make sure that we have the presence and that we work closely with them,” Mats Rahmström, president and CEO of Atlas, said during his recent trip to China.

Unlike his previous visits to China since 2003, Rahmström brought the company’s board members with him this time to offer them a first-hand observation of the vibrant market. They visited the group’s China headquarters in Shanghai and the Chinese manufacturing hub Wuxi, where the company is expanding investment in compressor production and R&D.

Atlas, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, entered the greater China market in the 1920s. Now, it has 46 firms, 16 manufacturing facilities with own R&D, and one high-tech R&D center in China.

“In the beginning, China was just the import market of our products. Now it’s a complete hub,” Rahmström said.

From offering the joining equipment and solutions to the manufacturing of automobiles and chips to developing pneumatic devices for infrastructure construction and medical use, the firm is offering an array of innovative products and services to empower China’s emerging sectors based on its expertise in compressor, vacuum, industrial and power technologies.

Regarding the Chinese market, “the number one thing that comes to my mind is speed,” said Rahmström. “The speed of development and the speed of innovation.”

Rahmström is particularly impressed with the rapid rise of China’s auto sector, especially the electric vehicle (EV) market.

“In Shanghai, I can see the green number plates everywhere now,” he said. “Two years ago, I had never seen a Chinese EV in Sweden, but today, it’s advertising every day.”

“Size” is the second term he chose to describe the China market, which boasts enormous demands thanks to its more than 1.4 billion people. (Xinhua)