As one of China's top 500 biggest stated-owned
enterprises, the Dalian-based Bingshan Group Co Ltd, China's leading industrial
refrigeration equipments supplier, improved its brand awareness in both domestic
and overseas markets through setting up joint ventures with famous foreign
companies such as Sanyo Japan, West House America, BAC Company USA and Linda
Company Germany and focusing on products and technologies research and
development.
"Bingshan Group has access to use world famous brands such as Sanyo and Fuji
under the agreements, making our market share increase quickly and reduce
promotion costs," Wang Zhiqiang, vice general manager of the Group said.
Sanyo, Japan's industrial refrigeration giant, built a world-level compressor
research center in Bingshan Group. "It will benefit us greatly," Wang said.
"Bingshan not only has famous brands, but also has independent intellectual
properties," said Mu Chuanjiang, general manager of Bingshan Group. "Through
joint ventures, we can get access to its core technologies, after assimilation
and innovation, we can have our own intellectual properties," Wu added.
Cooperation with foreign partners, especially the world's top 500 companies,
made Bingshan know more about technical barriers in the world market. "We have
no distribution networks in developed countries but we can draw support from our
partners' distribution networks," said Mu.
With the aid of its partners, Bingshan can enter the high-grade markets all
over the world, according to Mu.
Apart from joint ventures, money spent on research and development accounted
three to five percent of its subsidiaries' total sales, according to Mu.
"We started attaching more importance to technological staff building from
1970s, the flooding of foreign enterprises into China from the reform and
opening policy forced us to pay more attention on brands," said Mu.
Bingshan developed large-sized screw refrigeration equipments, closing a gap
in the field in Chinese market. Currently Bingshan's large-sized refrigeration
system controlled 70 percent of the market share.
In order to protect Bingshan brand, the company founded an intellectual
property department, which is responsible for registering brands and manage
patents.
Bingshan brand was registered in more than 60 countries including Thailand,
Japan and member countries from the World Intellectual Property Organization,
laying foundation for entering the world market.
"We still have a long way to become a world-level famous brand, we need some
ten years time, more interdisciplinary staff and capital to reach the goal," Mu
said.
With 46 subsidiaries-33 sino-foreign joint ventures, 12 wholly owned
companies and one listed company under its arm, Bingshan Group has 12,000
workers and 10 billion yuan in total assets. It recorded over 10 billion yuan in
sales last year, ranking eighth in China's top 100 machinery industry.
Bingshan was honored China's Famous Brand title last year.
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