Xinhua Finance and Economics, Shanghai, April 24 (Reporter Gao Shaohua, Chen Yunfu) Heraeus, a family-owned business and technology company headquartered in Hanau, Germany, will celebrate its 50th anniversary of entering the Chinese market this year. Jan Rinnert, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Heraeus, said in an exclusive interview with reporters in Shanghai recently that Heraeus has been adhering to the "In China, For China" strategy for many years, by being close to local customers, providing them with innovative technology, high-quality products and services, and promoting its long-term development in China, while also supporting the transformation of China's economy from high-speed development to high-quality development.
贺利氏董事会主席兼CEO凌瑞德(Jan Rinnert)
Closely follow the Chinese market and expand the four major businesses
As one of the top 10 family-owned companies in Germany, the Heraeus Group operates in the fields of precious metals and recycling, semiconductors and electronics, healthcare and industrial applications, with more than 100 subsidiaries in more than 40 countries. In fiscal 2022, the company generated sales of 29.1 billion euros.
Heraeus first began to expand into the Hong Kong market in 1974, entered the Chinese mainland market in 1994, and has been developing step by step since then.
"We are very proud and pleased that Heraeus has a 50-year history in China, thanks to our innovative and evolving technologies, as well as the support of our customers, governments and partners. According to Reich, Heraeus is customer-centric and keeps up with its customers. Although the first product introduced to the Chinese market 50 years ago is no longer there, the fact that Heraeus is still present in the Chinese market and is diversifying and expanding, is a sign of progress.
According to Reed, the Chinese market has always been a very special market for Heraeus. Heraeus has never felt that China's development is driven by "low labor costs", but rather by continuous demand growth and local innovation. For this reason, the company achieved local production and sales at an early stage. In recent years, Heraeus has also been promoting local innovation, including the establishment of several R&D and innovation centers.
Many of Heraeus' businesses are closely aligned with local customer needs and are constantly growing in the Chinese market. For example, the rapid development of precious metal recycling business in recent years is precisely due to the rapid growth of users' recycling demand and the continuous strengthening of China's resource and environmental protection policies. Heraeus also has a number of new products, such as precious metal catalysts for the manufacture of "green hydrogen", which are "catalyzed" by local customer demand.
"Heraeus' expertise in materials will also help the semiconductor and electronics industries. Our advanced packaging materials are widely used in key areas such as power electronics, enabling the development of industries such as electric vehicles, clean energy, and connectivity. Ling Ruide said.
In the field of steel, the global steel industry is undergoing a huge transformation process, especially for green steelmaking, energy conservation and environmental protection. Heraeus has launched an automation solution for the metals industry that helps its metallurgical customers reduce carbon emissions and save energy.
Heraeus is also increasing its investment in the Chinese market, with four more production sites in progress, in addition to a precious metals recycling plant that opened in January this year. In addition, Heraeus is exploring many new opportunities. Just in March of this year, Heraeus announced a multimillion-euro investment in an industrial diamond materials company in Xiamen, Fujian Province.
High-quality development is a more responsible way of development
The world's largest semiconductor exhibition "SEMICON China 2024" was recently held in Shanghai, and many related business departments of Heraeus participated in the exhibition, and Ling Ruide himself also came to the exhibition site. He was amazed that "there was so much attention from all sides, focusing on such a 'tiny' chip." In his view, semiconductors are a very important enabling technology industry, from mobile phones, electric vehicles, smart home appliances to some new energy products, all aspects of people's lives need to be driven by semiconductor technology.
Since entering the Chinese mainland market in 1994, Heraeus has gone through 30 years of development, which is also the 30 years of rapid economic development in China. Now, China has begun to vigorously promote high-quality development, which will also bring new development opportunities to Heraeus.
"High-quality development is actually a more responsible way of development. As a result, society has a more optimal allocation of resources, and all walks of life can use resources more responsibly. Ling Ruide said that high-quality development is also a healthier and safer way of development, and will pay more attention to the sustainable development of environment, society and governance (ESG), which also includes paying more attention to caring for people and promoting sustainable development of people. High-quality development is also a technology-driven development model, and electric vehicles are an example of high-quality development.
"Of course, high-quality development does not mean shrinking our hands, and we can enjoy the fruits of high-quality development very much. Ling Ruide said that still taking electric vehicles as an example, it has created a lot of value for human beings and society, subverted people's riding experience and driving experience, and also increased a lot of entertainment value.
China is constantly opening up to the outside world, continuously improving the business environment, and creating better conditions for the development of enterprises. In this regard, Ling Ruide said that Heraeus currently has a business layout in more than 10 cities such as Shanghai, Nanjing, Shenyang, Taicang, Changshu, etc., and has been very actively supported and helped by the relevant departments of local governments at all levels, and has established a cooperative relationship of mutual understanding and trust, and the company will continue to develop in China for a long time on this basis.
"When we look at the development prospects of the Chinese market, we must look at the needs of users from the perspective of local China, so we have always insisted on being close to local customers, and we have been continuing to invest, and there will be no change in this aspect. According to Reed, Heraeus has been developing in China for 50 years, and the investment amount in the last 10 years is 2 to 3 times the total investment in the previous 40 years, which is also mainly driven by the strong growth of local customer demand in the last 10 years.
Enterprises should pursue short-term goals while also taking into account long-term development
With more than 300 years of history, the Heraeus Group has successfully navigated through different economic cycles, and its development history has also brought inspiration and reference for many young companies in China.
Ling Ruide said that although many Chinese companies are very young, they are actually very experienced in many industries, especially in some cutting-edge technology fields. For example, in some areas of green hydrogen or health care, Heraeus has not been involved in these industries for a long time, and needs to be cultivated, developed, and learned from excellent Chinese customers and peers.
Heraeus not only focuses on long-term development, but also needs to have short-term gains and short-term profit goals, and the company pursues a combination of long-term development and short-term goals. For some Chinese companies, they can extend their life cycle by pursuing short-term goals while also taking into account long-term development.
At present, ESG is a topic of general concern for global enterprises. Heraeus has many materials and technologies that can help customers and society cope with climate change and reduce carbon emissions, such as electric vehicle materials and green hydrogen manufacturing technology, which can empower the development of ESG. On the other hand, enterprises can also reduce energy consumption from the perspective of their own improvement.
Talking about the group's future development goals, Ling Ruide revealed that Heraeus had set a development target for 2025 in 2018, which was achieved one year ahead of schedule in 2024. Heraeus is setting its goals for the next five years, 2030, which is a medium- to long-term goal on a global scale, and the company wants to continue to invest and innovate in its four business platforms.
"We are also constantly investing in M&A to seek more external growth opportunities. According to Ling Ruide, the past three years have been the best three years in the history of Heraeus, which also enables the company to have a strong ability to invest abroad. The company has a stable board structure and management system to support continuous, long-term strategic investments.
"The other thing that we'd really like to see is that we want to see more talent from China shine on the global stage – not just in the Chinese market, but also in the global headquarters and other markets. Ling Ruide said.
Editor: Hu Chenxi
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