The burgeoning telecommunications market in China also presents opportunities to Mainz-based Schott.

Chinese electronic device producers such as Midea, Haier and Huawei are interested in very thin glass that can be used for the surface of household appliances and electronic devices such as laptop computers and smartphones.

Household appliance makers in China are eager to produce high-end products to achieve new growth as the government encourages manufacturers to increase turnover by modernizing and digitalizing, and to be more internationally competitive.

As industries in China have upgraded, Heinricht's view of the country has undergone an upgrade of its own.

Twenty years after first visiting China, he says he is astonished at the huge economic changes that have taken place.

In fact, it is easy even for someone like him who has become familiar with the country to get lost because everything has changed so rapidly in the cities, he says.

"But one thing remains unchanged: the culture and personal styles. It's easy to communicate with Chinese businesspeople because they are friendly, straightforward, pragmatic and flexible.

"Being flexible is what German people can learn from their Chinese counterparts. That makes things easier and more efficient."

Schott set up shop in China 2002 when it opened a sales office in Shanghai and a production plant in Suzhou, Jiangsu province. It has since expanded its activities in the country.

In 2012, a local medical apparatus producer, Jiangsu Xinkang Medical Equipment Co, and Schott founded a joint venture in Jinyun, Zhejiang province, that sells ampuls, vials and cartridges.

It is building a new production plant in Jinyun that will come into operation in October. Schott's pharmaceutical systems division will invest another 30 million euros or so in China over the next three years. This will increase its production capacity by 50 percent over that period, he says.

Heinricht calls the collaboration with Xinkang a success story.

Schott is seeking opportunities to form joint ventures with other Chinese companies, he says.

"China is now our third-largest market after the United States and Germany, but by 2020 it will be our largest, most of our business sections having enjoyed high growth in China."

zhouwa@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 09/22/2017 page28)