The “Two-Way Rush” Between ABB and Xiamen Has Driven the Rapid Development of Xiamen’s Medium-Voltage Industry Cluster!

Xiamen, China, is the destination of Ma Teng, global president of ABB Group’s electrical business, as his “first business trip” in the new year. On January 9, 2024, executives of this Fortune 500 company made a special trip to Xiamen from the Netherlands and announced that “in the next three years, they will further increase their investment in China by US$100 million.”

Ma Teng also attended the 2024 ABB Electrical Innovation Week held in Xiamen. Together with ABB partners, he witnessed the release of a series of ABB innovations such as the world’s first solid-state circuit breaker that complies with the IEC60947-2 standard.

From the “first business trip” of senior executives in the new year to the “first show” of innovative achievements, all of them send a positive signal that ABB and Xiamen work hand in hand and interact positively.

In the 32 years since it settled in Xiamen, ABB has grown from one company to six wholly-owned and joint ventures. From “Made in China” to “Created in China” today, it illustrates the development and growth of foreign-funded enterprises in China, and also reflects the Out of Xiamen’s open innovation vitality.

At present, ABB Xiamen Industrial Center has become one of the ABB Group’s largest manufacturing bases in the world, and has achieved more than 95% localization of parts production. In 2023, the total revenue of ABB Xiamen Industrial Center will exceed 10 billion yuan.

The picture shows ABB Xiamen Industrial Center.

In the early 1990s, ABB, a global leader in electrical and automation headquartered in Switzerland, came to invest in China. Xiamen Special Economic Zone’s superior policies and strong willingness to cooperate have made ABB determined to “settlement” here.

In 1992, ABB established Xiamen ABB Switch Co., Ltd. in Xiamen Torch High-tech Zone, which was also the starting point for ABB’s voyage in China.

In 1992, ABB settled in Xiamen Torch High-tech Zone and started its development process in China. / Photo courtesy ABB

In 1994, Xiamen ABB Switch Co., Ltd.’s operating income exceeded 150 million yuan, and its high-tech products were adopted in key national projects.

In 1995, ABB invested more than 40 million US dollars again to build China’s first ABB industrial zone in Xiamen Torch High-tech Zone, making it one of the ABB Group’s largest production bases in Asia.

Since then, ABB has successively moved in, and its “big family” in Xiamen has grown to six members. In 2015, following the pace of Xiamen’s “cross-island development”, ABB invested in the construction of the ABB Xiamen Industrial Center in the Torch (Xiang’an) Industrial Center. Three years later, ABB Xiamen Industrial Center was officially put into operation, upgrading from a manufacturing base to an innovative R&D base.

Workers work at the ABB Industrial Center medium-voltage switchgear production center.

ABB’s continued embrace of Xiamen is the result of Xiamen’s continuous opening up and optimization of its business environment. Reform, opening up, and innovation are distinctive features of Xiamen. Xiamen’s continuously optimized business environment gives foreign investors “confidence in investing in Xiamen and a predictable future.”

Zhao Yongzhan, President of ABB Electric China, said frankly in an interview with a reporter from Xiamen Daily, “I initially settled in Xiamen out of commercial considerations, but later I gradually developed a deep relationship and feelings for Xiamen.” In his view, Xiamen’s industrial ecological environment The government environment is good, and the government environment is pragmatic and efficient. Especially in recent years, in the face of complex and changeable situations at home and abroad, relevant departments in Xiamen have effectively helped enterprises solve practical problems, which has strengthened the confidence and determination of enterprises to take root in Xiamen.

Intelligent manufacturing is a key word for ABB’s development in recent years! The world’s first and only fully automated switch cabinet robot assembly line is located in ABB Xiamen Industrial Center.

On this production line that was put into use last year, three robotic arms are busy all the time. They can not only easily grab a cabinet weighing 500 kilograms, but also dexterously pick up and install small screws with a diameter of about 10 mm. Compared with traditional production lines, its production capacity is increased by nearly 50% and the production time of each piece of equipment is shortened by more than 30%.

ABB Xiamen Industrial Center Medium Voltage Switch Complete Production Center is equipped with intelligent, fully automatic wire harness production equipment.

With its continuous exploration in the field of intelligent manufacturing, Xiamen ABB Switch Co., Ltd. recently passed the compliance certification of the “Intelligent Manufacturing Capability Maturity Model” national standard and reached the fourth level of intelligent manufacturing capability maturity, becoming the first domestic company to win this honor. of power transmission and distribution manufacturing companies. In addition, the company was also included in the “2023 Intelligent Manufacturing Demonstration Factory Announcement List”.

While promoting smart manufacturing, ABB has also proposed the goal of “achieving carbon neutrality in its own operations by 2030”, and ABB Xiamen Industrial Center is a demonstration model of its low-carbon transformation. This park covering an area of ​​425,000 square meters not only has 100,000 square meters of photovoltaics on the roof, but also combines smart energy management, smart buildings, light control, charging piles, etc., and uses AI and other technologies to build a precise control plan. Through the integration of “source-grid-load-storage”, ABB Xiamen Industrial Center’s clean energy utilization rate has reached 50%, reducing carbon emissions by approximately 13,400 tons per year.

ABB accelerates its move towards “intelligent manufacturing” to help support a low-carbon future.

Currently, Xiamen is using technological innovation to lead the transformation of development momentum, accelerating the creation of a “4+4+6” modern industrial system, striving to promote high-end, intelligent, and green industrial development, and forming new quality productivity through new industrialization. It can be said that ABB’s innovative practices provide a benchmark for Xiamen enterprises to promote intelligent and green transformation.

The multiplier effect promotes the gathering of upstream and downstream enterprises to form an industrial cluster with complementary resources.

At the 2024 ABB Electrical Innovation Week event, ABB released a series of innovative products and solutions. It is committed to driving the construction of new power systems and new energy systems with innovative technologies, and many of these new products and technologies are “Made in Xiamen.”

Cai Jianbo, general manager of Xiamen ABB Switch Co., Ltd., joined ABB in 2000. When talking about ABB’s development in Xiamen, what impressed him most was the transformation from “Made in China” to “Created in China”. “Xiamen has become a hub for ABB innovation. The source of big ideas. Products manufactured by ABB Xiamen have been successfully used in projects such as Chengdu Tianfu International Airport, Beijing-Shanghai High-speed Railway, Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and many leading Internet companies.”

For Xiamen, ABB’s innovative development in Xiamen has also driven the take-off of related industrial chains and unleashed the “multiplier effect” of leading enterprises. Over the years, Xiamen has used ABB, a leading enterprise, as a starting point to promote the gathering of a number of upstream and downstream enterprises to form a local supply chain supporting circle and build agile response capabilities.

Today, the power and electrical industry has become one of the leading industries in Xiamen Torch High-tech Zone. The park has a number of representative companies such as ABB, Schneider, Huadian Switchgear, and Xuji Electric Power. The industrial chain covers vacuum arc extinguishing devices, relays, circuit breakers, /Segmented fields such as low-voltage switch cabinets, insulation parts, transformer induction devices, electrical components and power components. From low voltage, medium voltage to high voltage, from components and complete sets of equipment manufacturing to specialized process processing, an industrial cluster integrating R&D, manufacturing and sales has been formed. The upstream and downstream are closely related, with complementary product functions and complementary resources.

The picture shows Xiamen Torch High-tech Zone

Looking to the future, wonderful stories of city-enterprise interaction and win-win development will continue to unfold. At present, Xiamen Electric Power ranks among the top in the country’s power transmission and distribution field. Next, we will move towards the world’s leading new power equipment research and development base and build a city of innovation in the new energy industry!

“We are very optimistic about our future development in Xiamen. We will always take root in this open and inclusive development land that is livable and suitable for business, promote the implementation of more projects, help the green transformation of the energy industry, and empower Xiamen’s sustainable development.” ABB Group Electrical said Ma Teng, Global President of Business.