Gas supplier's maxim: Stay ahead of curve

"Even with the current backdrop of a sluggish world economy, China still has room for economic development and potential growth in its industries because it has a huge territory with regions in different stages of development," said Ho.

Above all, there are still large inland areas where the pace of growth needs to catch up. "I believe the Chinese government made the wise decision to invest in infrastructure building and development of the western regions," he said.

China's demand for industrial gases could hit 100 billion yuan ($15.94 billion) in 2016, according to the China Industrial Gas Association. In 2011, the nation used 70 billion yuan of industrial gases.

According to a research note from Citi Bank, ongoing industrialization and rising energy costs in most emerging regions means energy conservation and efficiency improvement should be a major source of growth in demand for gas.

The report identified China as a key bright spot, saying that demand from industrial gases is also driven by the need to develop energy options to crude oil, to improve manufacturing processes and use local energy (very often coal) resources more efficiently.

This demands huge volumes of construction material such as iron and steel, as well as heavy equipment. Steel production and heavy equipment manufacturing require large volumes of industrial gases.

"Normally people use air to aid combustion, but air is made up of 79 percent of nitrogen that causes energy losses throughout the whole process. So we developed a technology that is purely oxygen-based," said Ami Gupta, executive director of applications research and development for Praxair Asia.

This saves more than 50 percent of energy loss and consequently saves money for customers, Gupta said.

In addition, the coastal regions that already enjoy affluence and have rapidly developed industries are experiencing industrial upgrading to improve quality, productivity and environmental protection, which will continue to increase the intensity of use for industrial gases.

Staying agile

Praxair has gone way further than the sale of gas. Currently 70 percent of Praxair China's new merchant (liquid) businesses are created on related application technologies, which fits with the belief Ho holds: Always stay agile in the face of change.

"As industrial gases can be applied in various sectors, it drives us to create new applications that people didn't originally use our products for but will now use them in new ways. In this way, we don't have to compete with other people on prices and we create our own market," he said.

Notably there are areas where you see increased needs driven by the demand for a higher quality of life, said Ho. For instance, the company applies pure oxygen-based biological wastewater treatment to increase capacity in restricted land areas, improve water quality and reduce secondary emissions and odors.

By firmly holding half of the market share, Praxair's supply of oxygen for ozone treatment helped improve water quality during the Beijing Olympic Games and the 2010 Shanghai Expo, where tap water became drinkable at the sites.

Another spectrum is the rise in merchant customers, whose products range from air conditioners, smartphones to golf equipment.