General Electric Co. will soon set up five new regional headquarters in China to further tap a huge market that boasts huge business potential.

The U.S. giant now operates two regional headquarters in Shanghai and Beijing. The new locations will be in Shenyang, Wuhan, Chengdu, Xi'an and Guangzhou -- provincial capitals in the country's northeast, central, southwest, northwest and south, according to Chen Xiangli, president of China Technology Center under GE.

The move is in line with its new strategy of making China the multinational's second home country, Chen told a GE-sponsored technology conference in Shanghai.

"China is not only a market, but also a significant research and development base and a fundamental foothold for GE's future development," he said, stressing the company would rely on its business growth in the country in future.

"GE has been following the American and European markets over the past century, but China will turn into a priority in future," said Wang Xiaozhong, the center's public relations chief inspector.

The new headquarters would help existing functional departments in different regions to further explore the market and develop more China-oriented products, Wang added.

Since last year, GE has invested US$55 million to the center on the research and development of new products for China, with a focus on clean energy, water treatment and new materials, among others.

The center now boasts more than 60 advanced labs and employs some 1,400 people.

GE's China sales volume accounted for about 2.54 percent of its global turnover of US$173 billion last year.

Chen believed the company had great growth potential in China and the country would no longer remain at the end of the international sales chain dominated by the European and U.S. markets.

(Xinhua News Agency September 16, 2008)