China is a major country in the development of renewable energy - Interview with Uwei Lauber, CEO of MAN Energy Solutions Group, in the market | China | Energy
For Mann, the Chinese market is the best choice for developing low-carbon and sustainable solutions business. Due to the vast renewable energy infrastructure in the Chinese market, the Chinese economy is also moving towards high-quality development, and attracting foreign investment with higher levels of openness, these factors are very attractive to MAN.
Mann Energy Solutions Group is headquartered in Germany and has over 120 factories and approximately 14000 employees worldwide. Its business covers engines and marine systems, power plants, turbine machinery, and other fields. In recent years, the company has continuously increased its investment in China, and currently 30% of its revenue comes from the Chinese market. Recently, Uwei Lauber, CEO of Mann Energy Solutions Group, stated in an interview with Economic Daily that China is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world and one of Mann's most important strategic markets. With China steadily advancing its "dual carbon" goals, the company's technology and products in the low-carbon field will have extensive application and development space in China.
In 2007, MAN Machinery Co., Ltd. was established in Changzhou, Jiangsu, which was the first production base of MAN Energy Solutions Group outside of Europe. Afterwards, MAN has continued to deepen its investment layout in China and develop patent cooperation. Currently, it has 7 low-speed machine patent partners and 6 medium speed machine patent partners in China, and provides a series of after-sales services.
"From the company's organizational structure, we can clearly see the importance of China to us. The company has established an Asia Pacific headquarters in Shanghai, with management functions radiating throughout the Asia Pacific region. The Changzhou production base not only has the ability to produce products that serve the Chinese market, but also products that are needed for the international market." Uwei Lauber said that for multinational companies, it is necessary to strengthen localization strategies in the Chinese market.
At the end of 2022, MAN launched a "zero carbon future" development strategy in China and proposed to provide carbon neutral solutions for each product portfolio of new shipbuilding by 2030. Sustainable technologies and solutions will account for the majority of the company's business, reducing carbon dioxide emissions generated during the production process by 50%.
Uwei Lauber stated that green and low-carbon development has become a consensus of the international community and a strategic choice for Mann. For Mann, the Chinese market is the best choice for developing low-carbon and sustainable solutions business. Due to the vast renewable energy infrastructure in the Chinese market, the Chinese economy is also moving towards high-quality development, and attracting foreign investment with higher levels of openness, these factors are very attractive to MAN.
"China is a major country in the development of renewable energy, providing us with broad development space for our plan to transform into low-carbon and new energy fields. One of our important businesses is to promote green development of the shipping industry through green hydrogen fuel, and China's shipping industry is in a leading position globally. In addition, at the policy level, we can also see the determination of the Chinese government to promote green and low-carbon development," said Uwei Lauber.
Uwei Lauber introduced that currently, MAN is committed to providing sustainable energy solutions in multiple fields: firstly, using green hydrogen and synthetic fuels; The second is green engines. The company provides green engines that can use various synthetic fuels such as synthetic natural gas or methanol, and plans to launch ammonia fuel engines in the market in 2024; The third is to upgrade engines that use heavy oil to engines that operate on green fuels, in order to meet the requirements of the shipping industry for green transformation and reduce carbon emissions from existing fleets; The fourth is carbon capture, utilization, and storage, which helps some industrial sectors reduce the inevitable impact of carbon emissions; The fifth is the heat pump driven by green energy technology.
Turning to his views on the prospects of China's economic recovery, Uwe Lauber said that the COVID-19 epidemic has brought a huge impact on the economies of all countries, and the economic recovery cannot be achieved overnight. However, compared with other economies in the world, China's economic recovery is relatively rapid, and it also has great development potential in the future.
Uwei Lauber believes that China has always maintained an open attitude, actively seeking international cooperation while promoting its own economic development, which is very important for foreign-funded enterprises such as Mann. The company will make necessary investments in China based on market conditions and recruit more local staff.
"I believe that in the future, China and Germany can strengthen cooperation in areas such as energy solutions. Our relationship with Chinese customers is not just a buying and selling relationship, but also a partnership. If this partnership can be long-lasting, it will achieve faster development, which is a win-win situation for both countries," said Uwei Lauber.
