Gernam industrial and engineering group Voith AG will build hydropower generators in China in a facility shared with Siemens AG.

The move will help it compete with other multinationals like General Electric and Alstom in the Chinese market and neighboring countries.

Voith Siemens Hydro Power Generation, which ranks No. 2 in the world in terms of market share, is likely to start local production in three to four years, and is increasing investment in its workshops in China.

"Our goal is to become No. 3 in the Chinese market in a few years, after two leading Chinese competitors," said Aage Dalsjoe, president of Voith Siemens Hydro Power Generation Shanghai Ltd.

Its Shanghai facility only makes turbines and Voith-Siemens stands fifth in China after Chinese companies Dongfang Electric Machinery Co and Harbin Electric Machinery Co, and GE and Alstom.

Company officials said their focus would be on large hydro projects and pumped storage projects, which pump water to higher land for electricity storage.

The Voith group's revenue in China in the past fiscal year rose 11 percent to 450 million euros (US$564 million) from a year earlier, of which only 18 percent came from its hydro power business. The major source of its revenue in China is its paper machinery business, which accounts for 67 percent of its sales.

Source:未知