Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06GUANGZHOU10987
2006-04-10 03:37:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Consulate Guangzhou
Cable title:  

Short March: Shantou In the Light On Innovation

Tags:  KIPR ECON EINV KPAO PINR CH 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO7332
RR RUEHAG RUEHCN RUEHDF RUEHGH RUEHIK RUEHLZ
DE RUEHGZ #0987/01 1000337
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 100337Z APR 06
FM AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4368
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GUANGZHOU 010987 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EB, EAP/CM, EAP/PD
STATE PASS USTR
USDOC FOR 4420/ITA/MAC/MCQUEEN, CELICO, DAS LEVINE
USPACOM FOR FPA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KIPR ECON EINV KPAO PINR CH
SUBJECT: Short March: Shantou In the Light On Innovation

REF: Guangzhou 10542 and previous

(U) This document is sensitive but unclassified. Please
protect accordingly. Not for release outside U.S.
Government Channels. Not for internet publication.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GUANGZHOU 010987

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EB, EAP/CM, EAP/PD
STATE PASS USTR
USDOC FOR 4420/ITA/MAC/MCQUEEN, CELICO, DAS LEVINE
USPACOM FOR FPA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KIPR ECON EINV KPAO PINR CH
SUBJECT: Short March: Shantou In the Light On Innovation

REF: Guangzhou 10542 and previous

(U) This document is sensitive but unclassified. Please
protect accordingly. Not for release outside U.S.
Government Channels. Not for internet publication.


1. (SBU) Summary: Two Shantou companies -- Guangdong
Golden Glass and the Shantou Institute of Ultrasonic
Instruments -- demonstrate that this eastern Guangdong city
does have its share of innovative companies despite its
reputation of being the "heart of the heart of darkness" in
intellectual property rights (IPR) malfeasance. End
Summary.


2. (SBU) In Consulate Guangzhou's "short march" sojourn in
Shantou (reftel),local FAO Director Fang Haishun purposely
wanted Congenoffs to visit two enterprises that are
successful innovators with patents and other IPR to
protect. This would offset the often negative impression
that observers have of Shantou as a nitty gritty town that
specializes in counterfeiting (septel). Accordingly we
were escorted to the privately owned Guangdong Golden Glass
Technology, Ltd., and the state-owned Shantou Institute of
Ultrasonic Instruments (SIUI).

Clear-Seeing and Clear-Thinking Golden Glass
--------------

3. (SBU) Guangdong Golden Glass (GGG) Chairman Zhuang
Dajian enthusiastically welcomed the Consulate party,
saying that the company has grown immensely since being
founded in 1992. Now with a total registered investment of
HK$54 million (US$ 7 million),GGG specializes in
designing, engineering, manufacturing and installing
complex and advanced curtain wall, structural glass wall,
skylights, canopies, etc. Specifically, these include
tinted energy conserving glass, glass capable of
withstanding hurricane winds, and hardened glass that can
withstand weapons fire and close proximity bomb blasts.
Zhuang proudly demonstrated that GGG glass could withstand
proximity blasts, immense weight (including being driven
over by heavy trucks without cracking or damage),and
impact by hard objects (metal and stone propelled against

sheets).


4. (SBU) Zhuang said that GGG holds a small number of
patents, but more importantly has considerable experience
in designing and producing according to client design.
Moreover, GGG has an outstanding track record of working
with better known international specialty glass companies
and has many partnership and technology/manufacturing
agreements with Pilkington, Asahi, Glaverbel, Guardian,
Saint Gobain, and others. These constitute the company's
IPR strengths and underlie the choice of the company by the
Tokyo subway system to supply the hardened glass to be used
in new construction at the Tokyo Station in the system.
Indeed, the factory floor was filled with specialty glass
in huge pallets destined for the Tokyo project.


5. (SBU) As to why GGG chose Shantou to locate its main
facilities, Zhuang said that municipal leaders had
delivered on commitments welcoming such an enterprise.
Moreover, the area had a sufficient supply of raw materials
for making glass.

Ultrasound Company
--------------

6. (SBU) At our next stop, SIUI President Li Delai said
that the company specializes in medical ultrasound devices,
inducers, and industrial flaw detectors, producing about
5000 ultrasound devices and 15,000 transducers per year,
with sales growth in ultrasound devices from 2800 units per
year in 2003 its current level. It also has the capability
to build 100 different types of transducers. Li said that
since beginning operation in the 1970s, the company has
advanced from primitive black and white displays to color
digital Doppler imaging. It has partnered with Tsinghua
University in Beijing and the Guangdong Digital Signal
Processing Institute for research and development and has 7
patents with 2 additional patents pending.


GUANGZHOU 00010987 002 OF 002


Competitors, Partners, and Markets
--------------

7. (SBU) The major markets for SIUI are Europe, the Middle
East, and Southeast Asia. The United States is the largest
market for ultrasound devices and SIUI is now developing
ultrasound devices to be used in veterinary practices. SIUI
sells both domestically and overseas using its own brand
name. Competitors include Toshiba, Hitachi, Philips,
Siemens and General Electric (GE). SIUI has partnered with
GE medical and Philips for purposes of marketing and
product development. Most of the manufacturing equipment
and raw materials for the ultrasound devices and
transducers come from overseas. For example, crystals for
transducers are imported from Motorola in the United States
because they are of superior quality although much more
expensive than local crystals. SIUI is a national key
enterprise with state ownership. Li said that the company
would be converted into a stock company over the next year.


8. (SBU) SIUI has a highly automated factory line, but
what gives the company a slight advantage over its
international and domestic counterparts is the fact that
there is a major labor-intensive component to the
production of ultrasound devices. This is in the necessity
for individual employees to join optical fibers under high
magnification view to the transducers. This is
painstaking work requiring a high degree of expertise.

Comment
--------------

9. (SBU) Both of these companies appeared well-run, with
research and development components aiming to improve both
products and manufacturing processes. Both also were
paying close attention to design -- GGG because of its
desire to expand its architectural glass market and SIUI in
trying to "package" its ultrasound devices in a manner that
making them more convenient for medical personnel to use.
This creativity and innovation takes place in a city where
the IPR bureaucracy is bumptious at best (septel) -- a good
reminder on how the good coexists with the bad.

Dong