Schueco, a leading provider of system solutions for window, door and facade products, announced its expansion strategy for China on Saturday that aims to sharply increase its annual sales.

"Our business in China has increased by three times in the past four years, but it has not reached what we have expected," said Guenter Strauss, executive director of Schueco China.

"China is a huge market with a big potential to tap. We are fully confident of our business in the country."

Dr. Winfried Heusler, senior engineering vice president of Schueco International KG, is giving a presentation on the energy efficient solutions for doors and windows.

Schueco China Media Interview at Fenestration Days, 2013.

He said Schueco's strategy is to expand from coastal areas to inland cities following the tempo of China's economic development.

Schueco entered the Chinese market in 1999 and established its China headquarters in Beijing. It later moved to Shanghai where real estate developers account for a large share of its business.

Schueco is active in 78 countries and had revenues of 1.8 billion euros ($2.4 billion) in 2012, said Georg Spranger, head of marketing and corporate development at Schueco International KG.

Michael Zhang, managing director of Schueco China, said the company is cooperating with its partners all around China to set up boutiques in large building materials chain superstores such as B&Q and Red Star Macalline to enlarge its nationwide retail network.

"Our purpose is to increase our share in the Chinese high-end market to 25 percent in the next four years," Strauss told the reporter.

In recent years, Senior Engineering Vice President Dr. Winfried Heusler has introduced new energy efficient solutions for windows and doors in places that have hot summers and cold winters.

He said there are two general trends in building envelopes - passive and active.

Passive building envelopes seal off and segregate the interior from the external as much as possible, while active envelopes change both internal and external conditions.

"It becomes obvious that active envelopes compared to purely passive approaches offer advantages in climates with hot summers and cold winters," said Heusler. "These advantages are more significant if the local urban situation permits natural ventilation and the use of solar energy and daylight in general."

Industry insiders said more Chinese homebuyers are not only focusing on project design, but also paying attention to construction materials and processes, which brings new challenges to property developers.

In addition to ensuring product quality, property developers are now required to use innovative materials and technologies as well, he added.

"Schueco's system solutions are able to help a building reduce the cost of its daily use by one-third and save 13 percent in energy consumption," Heusler said.

chenqide@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 12/08/2013 page12)