Swiss industrial giant ABB established its first manufacturing joint venture in China in 1992. Since then, it has invested more than 2.4 billion U.S. dollars in the country. Zhang Zhiqiang, managing director of ABB China told CGTN that the coronavirus pandemic hasn’t shaken up the company’s confidence in China, and it will continue its investment. Zhang said that China is among the most favorable markets for foreign investment. He revealed that China serves as ABB’s second biggest market, where more than 90 percent of sales come from local production. Zhang talks about the Foreign Investment Law, and elaborates on ABB’s take on industrial chain restructuring in the post-epidemic era in the interview.

Swiss-Swedish multinational ABB has completed its acquisition of a majority stake in Chinese e-mobility solution provider Chargedot Shanghai New Energy Technology, which provides AC and DC charging stations and the software platform to EV manufacturers, charging network operators, and real estate developers. ABB announced the pending Chargedot acquisition back in late-October, a move which ABB hopes will strengthen its relationship with leading Chinese EV manufacturers as well as helping to broaden the company’s e-mobility portfolio with hardware and software developed specifically for local requirements. ABB already offers solutions from grid distribution to charging points for electric vehicles as well as for the electrification of ships, railways, trams, buses, and cable cars. Acquiring Chargedot and its 205 employees will help broaden the company’s already expansive geographic footprint.

Oerlikon has received new large orders for manmade fibers production solutions from three of the world’s leading manmade fibers manufacturers. All three companies are based in China and have been key customers of Oerlikon for many years. The orders are for Oerlikon Barmag’s world leading filament-spinning technology for the highly efficient production of polyester fibers. The three projects have a total value of more than 600 million Swiss francs ($625 million). A very small proportion of these projects will be recognized in Oerlikon Group’s order intake in 2020, and the majority will be accounted for in 2021 and 2022. On-site delivery and installation of these systems is planned for the period from 2021 to early 2023. The systems business in China remains largely unchanged despite the short-term interruption caused by the coronavirus epidemic following the Chinese New Year celebrations. Long-term project planning for major customers in the manmade fibers industry has resulted in new major orders being placed with Oerlikon Barmag.

China has approved the use of Swiss drugmaker Roche’s anti-inflammation drug Actemra for patients who develop severe complications from the coronavirus as it urgently hunts for new ways to combat the deadly infection that is spreading worldwide. China is hoping that some older drugs could stop severe cytokine release syndrome (CRS), or cytokine storms, an overreaction of the immune system which is considered a major factor behind catastrophic organ failure and death in some coronavirus patients. Actemra, a biologic drug approved in 2010 in the United States for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), inhibits high Interleukin 6 (IL-6) protein levels that drive some inflammatory diseases. China’s National Health Commission said in treatment guidelines published online that Actemra can now be used to treat coronavirus patients with serious lung damage and high IL-6 levels.

ChemChina and Sinochem are consolidating their agricultural assets into a new holding company to be called Syngenta Group, ChemChina unit Syngenta said. Chen Lichtenstein, current president and CEO of Shenzhen-listed crop protection company ADAMA, which will also be incorporated into the new group, will be nominated CFO of the newly formed Syngenta Group. He will be based in Basel, Switzerland, the Swiss group said in a statement. Reuters reported last month that China National Chemical Corp, or ChemChina, had approached Chinese state-backed investors for up to USD 10 billion in funding as part of a reorganization of its agrichemicals business ahead of a public float. The reorganization includes Syngenta, the Swiss pesticide producer that ChemChina agreed in 2016 to buy for USD 43 billion. The fundraising efforts and eventual stock market listing are designed to cut ChemChina’s debt ahead of a long-awaited mega-merger with state-owned peer Sinochem. Frank Ning, the chairman of both companies, has encouraged individual business units to tap capital markets ahead of any tie-up, which has been in the works since 2016. ChemChina wants to list Syngenta on China’s technology-focused STAR market in mid-2020, according to fundraising documents dated from October.

Bühler Group has sold its flour ingredient business to Bakels. The Swiss group manufactures and distributes bakery ingredients and application solutions. As part of the transaction, 70 employees of Bühler Guangzhou are moving to the new owner with immediate effect. Both parties have agreed not to disclose the selling price. “With Bakels, we have found an excellent owner and strategic partner for flour ingredient solutions,” said Johannes Wick, chief executive officer (CEO) of Bühler’s Grains & Food business. Bakels is a Swiss enterprise with more than 2,750 employees. Its focus is on ingredients for bakery and confectionery. “Flour ingredients have been a missing link in our portfolio so far,” said Armin Ulrich, chairman of Bakels. “We are excited to close that gap now by taking over Bühler’s well-positioned business and strengthen our position in China.”

ABB has completed the divestment of all its shares in two Shanghai-based Electrification joint ventures, Shanghai ABB Breakers Co., Ltd. and Shanghai ABB Guangdian Electric Co., Ltd. to holding subsidiaries of Shanghai Guangdian Electric Group (SGEG), ABB’s joint venture partner in the two companies. Financial details have not been disclosed. Tarak Mehta, President of ABB’s Electrification business, said: “The completion of this divestment reduces the complexity of the Electrification business in China and improves our focus in this key market. It is a significant step forward in ABB’s ongoing strategy of active portfolio management.” ABB acquired a 60% stake in the two joint ventures as part of the GE Industrial Solutions acquisition in 2018. With the sale now complete, SGEG now owns the two Shanghai companies. ABB and SGEG will continue to operate as long-term partners via a multi-year mutual supply agreement.

Novartis is exiting drug discovery at its Shanghai site and shifting its focus to drug development, saying accelerating approvals in China are pushing the Swiss company to dedicate the operation’s resources to getting its medicines to market. The move marks an about-face from just three years ago, when Novartis had christened the USD 1 billion campus as its Chinese hub for early-stage research. About 150 of the more than 1,000 Shanghai staffers will lose their research jobs, while Novartis plans to add 340 new positions to develop up-and-coming drug prospects over the next four years, a period in which it expects to file 50 new drug applications with China’s regulator. The changes, first reported by website Fierce Biotech, were confirmed by Novartis, which said Shanghai’s role in coming up with new molecules would now be replaced by developing drug prospects, including early clinical development and trials, for the fast-growing Chinese market.

Roche is aiming to develop medicines ‘in China for China and the world’, Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche Group – which established the first foreign-funded research and development center in Shanghai in 2004 and was the first multinational enterprise in Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park in 1994 – announced the completion of a new innovation center in the city on October 21st. Representing an investment of CNY 863 million (USD 122 million), the innovation center focuses on research and early development of innovative drugs for immunology, inflammation and infectious diseases, and will further bring China’s R&D to the world stage by developing innovative drugs to meet patients’ unmet needs. In an interview with China Daily, Severin Schwan, CEO of Roche Group, said that as always, China plays a vital role in Roche’s global strategy, and with this center, it is committed to making Shanghai the third strategic global center of Roche following Basel, Switzerland, and San Francisco, the United States.

Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis and China’s internet giant Tencent jointly announced the official launch of an online long-term disease management platform for heart patients during the ongoing China International Import Expo on Wednesday. The platform called “AI”, representing care for the heart in Chinese, covers daily health indicator monitoring and health condition assessment through voice and image recognition and interaction as well as access to personalized information, and lies inside WeChat as a mini program, the developers said. It is the country’s first of such online AI-powered platform providing disease management for heart patients, the companies claimed. Official figures showed that there are at least 10 million patients with heart diseases in China, and medical experts said that around 50 percent of the patients die within five years after being diagnosed.