The international community has high expectation from the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) and the business opportunities it presents, as the 100-day countdown of the event begins. “CIIE will bring a very strong exposure to our company, by having high-level government officials, influential trade professionals, including lots of existing and potential customers, and hopefully also the general public which can bring us recruiting opportunities,” Laurent Castella, Head of Marketing Region Asia, GF Machining Solutions, said in Shanghai on Thursday. Founded by Gorge Fisher in 1820, during the first industrial revolution, the Swiss company GF is an industrial leader in three main areas: the safe transport of liquids and gases, lightweight casting components in vehicles, and high-precision manufacturing technologies. With rapid technological development, especially digitalization transformation, also called IOT or industrial 4.0, the game will change. The machines will talk to machines and the data collected from the machines will move to the clouds. Artificial intelligence will look at the data and make decisions that human cannot make. GF is also behind this digital transformation, creating a new manufacturing world for tomorrow and the company is working with key universities in the world to develop more intelligent products and more intelligent process and it will bring all these leading technologies into China, Castella said.

Clariant AG has opened two new additives facilities in Zhenjiang, China, the Muttenz, Switzerland-based chemicals company announced 20 June. The new facilities, which will be producing synergistic additive solutions AddWorks and micronised waxes Ceridust for plastics, coatings & ink industries, are part of a multi-million-franc investment Clariant announced last year. These will add to the companyÕs offerings of customised solutions for the plastics, coatings & ink industries. ÒThis completed investmentÉ marks our commitment to expand capability and capacity in China, one of the most important strategic markets for Clariant,Ó said Christian Kohlpaintner, member of Clariant’s executive committee, at the opening ceremony. According to Kohlpaintner, the Swiss chemicals giant is now pursuing Òa dedicated strategyÓ aimed at increasing and sharpening the focus on China. The additional local production capacity in China, said Clariant, will allow to provide Òmore tailored solutions at shortened lead timesÓ.

Speaking at the ÒEntrepreneurship in Healthcare: Powering InnovationÓ event organised by the European Healthcare Distribution Association (GIRP) in Dublin, the CEO of the Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company criticised Europe for lagging Òfar behindÓ compared to the US and China in healthcare innovation. ÒThe US leads, China is catching up and Europe is watching. People have not realised yet what is going on here and I am afraid of that,Ó he warned. Schwan explained that the US was without a doubt ahead of others in healthcare innovation as it has provided a clear regulatory framework which has allowed for an ecosystem of new start-up companies in the field. ÒEurope is far away from what is happening in the US, not even close. In addition, China has already overtaken Europe and I am concerned that it will be very difficult for Europe, also for inherent reasons as data is so fragmented within Europe and within countries, to catch up.Ó Roche CEO said that the company was investing a lot in the US not because it does not want to invest in Europe but because itÕs just much simpler: there is a regulatory framework that allows investment in these new digital opportunities. ÒChina is also catching up. Chinese are totally committed to innovation. If you are talking to European politicians about innovation [É] you donÕt know who you will meet next time, if they are still in the government.Ó On the other hand, he said, in China, they have a long-term strategy to grow and get from low-value industries to high-value industries, with life science and IT some of the key industries they want to develop.

Bobst, a Swiss company that provides machinery and services to the packaging industry, will open a new production site and Competence Center in Changzhou, China. The new site, a greenfield facility in Changzhou in the Jiangsu province of China, will be dedicated to web-fed printing and converting technologies for flexible materials. The opening of the new plant will mark a major step in the companies next phase of the development of activities for the Asian flexible packaging industry. The new plant will feature the groups highest Bobst manufacturing standards in its delocalized production plants and for the development of gravure printing and lamination solutions for the regions specific requirements and industry practices. The company will also open a Competence Center that will be part of the Bobst Changzhou facility. The center will provide support and advice to Asian clients throughout gravure printing and lamination trial runs.

Swiss pharmaceuticals company Novartis says net income jumped 12% in the first quarter, pointing to explosive growth in its heart-failure drug Entresto as its rollout continues, and powerful double-digit percentage growth for psoriasis drug Cosentyx. The Basel-based powerhouse, one of the world’s largest drug companies, said that first-quarter net profit under new CEO Vas Narasimhan rose to USD 2.03 billion when accounting for currency changes, up from USD 1.67 billion a year earlier. Net sales rose 4% to USD 12.69 billion. Sales of Cosentyx jumped 35% to USD 580 million, and Entresto sales soared 126% to USD 200 million. Generics and biosimilars unit Sandoz saw U.S. sales drop 18% amid competitive pressures. Novartis experienced double-digit percentage growth in emerging markets, largely due to an 18% increase in sales in China.

New Novartis AG Chief Executive Officer Vas Narasimhan aims to more than double the pharmaceutical giantÕs sales in China over the next five years and gain faster reimbursement for cutting-edge cancer drugs as the country speeds up approvals. Novartis hopes to win a Òcouple ofÓ approvals for new medicines in 2018, Mr. Narasimhan said in a Bloomberg Television interview in Beijing. That follows agreements in China to pay for eight of its drugs. Talks with the Chinese regulator show the companyÕs ambition to accelerate the introduction of new technologies, such as CAR-T treatments for cancer. Global drug makers like Basel, Switzerland-based Novartis have benefited from a Chinese regulatory overhaul that has opened the market to a range of breakthrough therapies. Novartis is including China now in all late-stage trials on the back of regulatory changes that allow the company to get drugs to the market faster, Mr. Narasimhan said. The Swiss drugmaker last year filed for approval for 15 new products in China, which now accounts for about USD 2 billion in annual sales, he said.

At a demonstration at the Computing Conference hosted by Alibaba Cloud, ABBÕs YuMi robot showcased the process of making a cafe lattŽ while displaying real-time process data on the screen, helping visitors experience the magic of ABBÕs smart technology. Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group, is ChinaÕs largest public cloud service provider and the third largest worldwide. At the exhibition themed ÒIndustrial BrainÓ, ABB’s intelligent coffee making robot demo became a center of attention. YuMi can accurately complete the whole process from taking a coffee cup, pouring the milk, making latte and finally passing the tasty coffee to visitors. This is made possible by its flexible hands, camera-based part location, lead-through programming, and state-of-the-art precise motion control. This cutting edge technology wowed the crowd, as did the ability of the YuMi robot to work closely with people without safety barriers. YuMi was programmed to create the lattes by a process called Ôlead through programmingÕ. The robotÕs arms were guided through each step in the process while its movements were recorded. This teaching method is faster and more intuitive than programming each individual movement with complex software, making YuMi more appealing to small and medium businesses. The final precise movements are then synchronized in ABBÕs RobotStudio to ensure a flawless Ð and flavorful Ð performance.

Recently, ABB and the China national machinery and equipment Corporation (CMEC) signed a strategic cooperation agreement “ABB power and automation world” activities held in Hangzhou,Ê to further deepen bilateral relations and cooperation, and work together to explore the global market. Under the agreement, both sides will give full play to their advantages and jointly explore the global power infrastructure projects, expand “one Belt one RoadÓ overseas Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) market. Dr. Chunyuan Gu, Senior Vice President of ABB Group, Chairman and President of ABB (China) Limited, said: “The ‘one Belt one Road’ initiative brings new opportunities for ABB and Chinese enterprises to further cooperate. Relying on ABB’s leading technology advantages and rich experience in project management,Ê We are providing products, technologies and services that meet international standards for a growing number of Chinese companies, including CMEC. In the future, we will help our clients enhance project management and implementation through ABB Ability digital solutions, to create greater value, to achieve the win – win cooperation.Ó

During a festive ceremony on 18 May 2017, Bystronic inaugurated its new sales and service center in Shanghai. The new premises offer Bystronic an enhanced infrastructure with modern offices and a demo center. During his opening address at the inauguration of the new business location, Dr. Song You, President of Bystronic China, emphasized that the new center will allow Bystronic to offer even more comprehensive support to its Chinese customers with sales advice and services relating to all the steps of sheet metal processing. In addition to Shanghai, Bystronic has two other Chinese business locations in Shenzhen and Tianjin that act as centralized points of contact for the sales and service of its sheet metal processing systems. The goal of this infrastructure is to be a competent and reliable local partner for all the customersÕ concerns.For Bystronic, China is one of the most important individual markets worldwide. As Dr. Song You explained, ever since Bystronic took up its sales activities, it has been able to continuously expand its range of solutions in China. Today in China, Bystronic is one of the top 3 international manufacturers of machines for the cutting and bending of sheet metal.

ABB announced that Chun-Yuan Gu, managing director of ABB China, will become president of the AMEA region. He takes over from Frank Duggan, who has been appointed president of Europe, succeeding Bernhard Jucker, whose retirement was announced earlier. As members of the ABB Executive Committee, both Chun-Yuan Gu and Frank Duggan will report to ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer. Both appointments will be effective July 1, 2017. “China represents one third of global growth and is a very important market for ABB. I am very pleased to welcome Chun-Yuan, a China and industrial automation expert, to our Executive Committee. He has a proven track record of delivering superior growth momentum and a profound knowledge of Asia and emerging markets”, said Spiesshofer. “He will have an important role in implementing our Next Level strategy and further accelerating our growth momentum, for example, through our digital offering, ABB AbilityTM. Chun-Yuan will be key to integrating our announced acquisition of B&R, an innovation leader in machine and factory automation, in the industrial segments of emerging markets”.