Corning poised to invest US$500mil to expand presence in China
Beijing: US-based materials science company Corning Inc plans to invest another US$500mil in China this year, reinforcing its long-standing commitment to what it calls its most important overseas market, despite ongoing geopolitical and economic headwinds.
'This year marks the milestone of Corning being in China for 45 years, so we are going to expand our capability and also upgrade our technology,' Lin Chunmei, vice-president of Corning Inc, said during a recent exclusive interview with China Daily. 'Our strategy is very simple – just keep investing in our leading technology capabilities in China.'
Since entering the Chinese market in the 1980s, Corning has invested more than US$9bil in the country.
Today, it operates 21 manufacturing plants, a research and development centre and three technology centres, employing nearly 6,000 people across the country.
Despite headwinds such as weaker global demand and trade disputes, Lin, who is also president and general manager of Corning Greater China, said she expects the company to achieve steady growth in China this year, voicing strong confidence and optimism about China's long-term prospects.
'China is no longer a country of just cheap labour. It has very sophisticated talent and a complete infrastructure,' Lin said. 'I think China now has much more power and strength to go through challenges than before.'
While acknowledging the short-term challenges posed by trade frictions between the United States and China, Lin argued that economic logic would ultimately prevail. 'This kind of trade war is a lose-lose. China will get hurt, but the others will hurt too,' she said.
'At the end of the day, business is business. We need to be rational to make the most logical decisions that benefit both. Eventually, I think that will be the solution.'
This year, China is putting a priority on fostering new high-quality productive forces and boosting technological innovation in its economic agenda.
According to the Government Work Report, China will strive to develop new productive forces in light of local conditions and accelerate the development of a modernised industrial system.
This will require the fostering of emerging industries and industries of the future, such as bio-manufacturing, quantum technology and embodied artificial intelligence (AI).
'Developing new productive forces will be key to boosting China's long-term economic growth potential, with AI – in which the United States and China are seeking to gain a competitive edge – set for intensified development,' said Li Chao, chief economist at Zheshang Securities.
'Future industries could be a particular focus and we anticipate new industrial plans to outline their growth trajectories.'
Now, Corning is capitalising on key trends, including China's AI boom, data centre expansion and environmental policy upgrades – areas where the company's speciality glass, ceramics and expertise in optical physics are in high demand.
'AI is very important to us because customers need better connection,' Lin said.
'It has enhanced our optical communications business globally – in the US and also in China. We are actually upgrading our fibre capabilities, making more premium fibre in China, and we also have a plan to increase our capability to support the demand for data centres.'
The company is also targeting growth in China's auto sector, the world's largest in terms of both sales and manufacturing capability.
Corning provides advanced glass and emission control products for the country's increasingly tech-forward and environmentally-conscious vehicles.
'China-made cars are very cool, not only their engines but also user-friendly designs.
'Our auto glass really makes it very user-friendly and visually appealing. That's an investment area we continue to expand in,' Lin said.
'To us, 'grow with China' is not a slogan – it's what we have seen in the past,' Lin said.
'The next China is still China. I believe in it. China still has a lot of strong momentum and strengths to keep growing.' — China Daily/ANN
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
24 minutes ago
- The Sun
Pro-Palestinian protest leader released from US custody
NEW YORK: Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University student who was one of the most visible leaders of nationwide pro-Palestinian campus protests, was released Friday from a federal detention center. Khalil, a legal permanent resident in the United States who is married to a US citizen and has a US-born son, has been in custody since March facing potential deportation. 'This shouldn't have taken three months,' Khalil, wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf, told US media outside an immigration detention center in Jena, Louisiana hours after a federal judge ordered his release. '(President Donald) Trump and his administration, they chose the wrong person for this,' he said. 'There's no right person who should be detained for actually protesting a genocide.' The Department of Homeland Security criticized District Judge Michael Farbiarz's ruling Friday as an example of how 'out of control members of the judicial branch are undermining our national security.' Under the terms of his release, Khalil will not be allowed to leave the United States except for 'self-deportation,' and faces restrictions on where he can travel within the country. Khalil's wife, Michigan-born dentist Noor Abdalla, said her family could now 'finally breathe a sigh of relief and know that Maumoud is on his way home.' 'We know this ruling does not begin to address the injustices the Trump administration has brought upon our family and so many others the government is trying to silence for speaking out against Israel's ongoing genocide against Palestinians,' added Abdalla, who gave birth to the couple's first child while her husband was in detention. - Visas revoked - Since his March 8 arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, Khalil has become a symbol of Trump's campaign to stifle pro-Palestinian student activism against the Gaza war, in the name of curbing anti-Semitism. At the time a graduate student at Columbia University in New York, Khalil was a prominent leader of nationwide campus protests against Israel's war in Gaza. Following his arrest, US authorities transferred Khalil, who was born in Syria to Palestinian parents, nearly 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles) from his home in New York to the detention center in Louisiana, pending deportation. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has invoked a law approved during the 1950s Red Scare that allows the United States to remove foreigners seen as adverse to US foreign policy. Rubio argues that US constitutional protections of free speech do not apply to foreigners and that he alone can make decisions without judicial review. Hundreds of students have seen their visas revoked, with some saying they were targeted for everything from writing opinion articles to minor arrest records. Farbiarz ruled last week that the government could not detain or deport Khalil based on Rubio's assertions that his presence on US soil poses a national security threat. The government has also alleged as grounds to detain and deport Khalil that there were inaccuracies in his application for permanent residency. Amol Sinha, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, which is among the groups representing Khalil, welcomed the release order. 'This is an important step in vindicating Mr Khalil's rights as he continues to be unlawfully targeted by the federal government for his advocacy in support of Palestinian rights,' Sinha said.
The Star
33 minutes ago
- The Star
Will the US$499 Trump phone be made in Alabama or China?
Trump Mobile is rolling out the US$499 (RM2,123) T1 Phone in August. — Getty Images via AFP Buried in Monday's news of a new cell phone bearing the name of the Trump organisation was one tidbit about where it will be manufactured. President Donald Trump's company said it is launching the Trump Mobile cell phone service, which it claimed is 'designed to deliver top-tier connectivity, unbeatable value and all-American service for our nation's hardest-working people.' Along with the service, Trump Mobile is rolling out the US$499 (RM 2,123) T1 Phone in August, a 'gold smartphone engineered for performance and proudly designed and built in the United States for customers who expect the best from their mobile carrier.' But The Wall Street Journal is reporting that, according to the company, Alabama will be one of three states where the phones will be made. A spokesman for the Trump Organization told the Journal that 'manufacturing for the new phone will be in Alabama, California and Florida.' The Trump Organization did not respond to a request from for more information. Eric Trump did say Monday that the first wave of phones wouldn't be built in the US. 'You can build these phones in the United States,' he told podcaster Benny Johnson. 'Eventually, all the phones can be built in the United States of America. We have to bring manufacturing back here.' The Journal is a bit sceptical that any American-made cellphone will show up soon. Earlier this year, the newspaper quizzed supply-chain experts on how quickly a completely US-made phone on the order of the iPhone could appear. They projected years and a multi-billion dollar commitment to build the infrastructure necessary, which would result in a phone more expensive than the iPhones made in China. The Journal's deputy tech editor Wilson Rothman said in the Journal's 'Tech News Podcast' that there are currently phones that resemble the specs of the T1 phone at this price point that are made in China. 'The thing about manufacturing phones in America is you have to have an infrastructure,' Rothman said. 'You have to have a workforce. You have to have things that you can't just snap your fingers or even throw US$500bil (RM2.13 trillion) at. It's not a problem that can be solved just with money. It really is a decades-in-the works kind of project.' Regardless, Rothman said the Trump phone could do well in capitalising 'on the frustration of people (with) their wireless plans.' And despite being advertised as an American-made phone, 'it is likely that this device will be initially produced by a Chinese (original design manufacturer),' Counterpoint Research analyst Blake Przesmicki wrote in a June 16 note, according to Variety . 'Max Weinbach, an analyst at research firm Creative Strategies, in a post on X, said the T1 Phone is likely being made by Wingtech, which is owned by Chinese company Luxshare. 'Same device as the T-Mobile REVVL 7 Pro 5G, custom body,' Weinbach wrote in the post, Variety reprted. 'Wingtech, now owned byLuxshare, makes it in Jiaxing, Wuxi, or Kunming China.' – News Service
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Dr Wee officiates the launch of Malaysian Business Law Review 2025/2026 Edition
PETALING JAYA: Dr Wee Ka Siong officially launched the Malaysian Business Law Review 2025/2026 Edition, a joint publication by RDS Partnership and DeHeng Law Office, at the Asian International Arbitration Centre. In a Facebook post on Friday (June 20), the MCA president wrote that with China-Malaysia trade reaching new heights and Malaysia's strategic role growing within Asean and Bricks, the demand for legal clarity and accessible guidance has never been more critical. 'This publication, particularly tailored for Chinese investors, provides an insightful overview of Malaysia's business legal framework, from corporate to tax law,' wrote Dr Wee. He stated that the book, published in Chinese, improves accessibility for Chinese-speaking legal professionals in Malaysia and enables Malaysian perspectives to be more visible and understood within the broader Belt and Road legal discourse. 'Congratulations to the editorial team and all contributors on this meaningful milestone. May this review continue to grow as a platform for legal and business dialogue in our region,' wrote Dr Wee.
