What’s new: German optical systems giant Carl Zeiss AG on Monday put into operation a new 250 million yuan ($34.4 million) manufacturing facility in China, bucking a trend of European businesses moving investments out of the country amid concerns of an economic slowdown and rising tensions between Beijing and Washington.
Located in an industrial park in Suzhou, East China’s Jiangsu province, the facility is used for research and development as well as the production of microscopes, surgical microscopes, ophthalmic equipment and optical measuring instruments, with plans to add production lines for electron microscopes in the future, the company said.
The Suzhou site will primarily use the local supply chain to manufacture products for China-based individual and enterprise customers, said Zeiss China President and CEO Maximilian Foerst.
The background: Zeiss purchased land for the construction of the Suzhou facility in October 2022, marking the first time that the German company had bought land in China to build its own plant since entering the Chinese market in 1957. Foerst described the move as a clear indication of the company’s long-term commitment to the Chinese market.
Zeiss operates four other major manufacturing plants in China, tasked with producing optical measuring equipment and optical lenses ― including in Shanghai and Guangzhou.
China has been Zeiss’s biggest single market since 2021. In the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2023, Zeiss’s revenue generated from the Greater China region was around 13.5 billion yuan, up 22% year-on-year, according to company data.
Contact reporter Ding Yi (yiding@caixin.com) and editor Jonathan Breen (jonathanbreen@caixin.com)
