Aveva eyes growth in China's digital transformation

Industrial software developer Aveva is looking to grasp the abundant opportunities arising from China's emphasis on industrial upgrading and digital transformation, and deepen its cooperation with Chinese companies by leveraging cutting-edge technologies to improve production efficiency in various fields, said senior executives of the company.

Emon Zaman, senior vice-president and head of Asia-Pacific at Aveva, said, "In China, I believe the manufacturing industry, which includes things like semiconductors and discrete manufacturing and even consumer products, will continue to have a big opportunity for Aveva as well as companies here."

"In the manufacturing sector, Chinese companies are all already very competitive, but I feel that the next level of efficiency will be gained by using technology to drive even more efficiency so that they are even more globally competitive," he said, adding that the two industries where the company has the biggest growth potential are power and chemicals.

Aveva has used advanced digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence, big data and digital twin, to improve the efficiency of production and operation in a wide range of industries such as manufacturing, petrochemicals, energy, shipbuilding and life sciences.

Zaman highlighted the significant position of the Chinese market in Aveva's global business landscape given the influence China has around the world. "It is essential for us to be successful here in China and grow our business in China despite what might happen in the short term among global geopolitics."

The United Kingdom-headquartered company opened a customer experience center in Beijing last year. It now has five such centers globally — two in the United States, one in the UK, and one each in India and China.

Although Aveva hasn't established a research and development center in China, "our strategy in China has been to work with partners as part of configurations required in the product to serve the local markets in the local industries," Zaman said.

"China is a global leader in many different segments, different industries. I think we are at a point where we need to make the decision to really capture certain industries where we could potentially co-invest with our customers in China."

He noted that a growing number of Chinese manufacturing companies are expanding their footprint in overseas markets, which represents huge opportunities and which means that Aveva needs to continue its close collaboration with its Chinese partners.

China is the world's largest manufacturing country, with its manufacturing output accounting for nearly 30 percent of the global total, ranking first for 14 consecutive years, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The country is accelerating steps to advance new industrialization, build a modern industrial system through scientific and technological innovations, and improve the resilience and security of industrial and supply chains.

Cui Jingyi, vice-president and general manager of Aveva China, said the company has stepped up its investment in China, instead of decreasing it, despite changes in circumstances.

Domestic enterprises are now more willing to leverage AI technologies to improve business efficiency along with the emergence of generative AI and large language models, Cui added.

Foreign enterprises have been, and will hopefully remain, key contributors to China's industrial modernization drive, particularly in areas like automation and digitalization of industrial and supply chains, where multinational firms have strong positions globally, including in China, said Denis Depoux, global managing director of consultancy Roland Berger.

China's efforts to develop new quality productive forces will attract more foreign companies to bring more investment and technologies to the world's second-largest economy, he added.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, foreign direct investment in the Chinese mainland in actual use totaled 693.21 billion yuan ($95.5 billion) in the first 10 months of this year.