ABB aims to double its China market

European industrial giant ABB said it aims to double Chinese revenues to US$4 billion from US$1.6 billion last year, making China its largest market by 2008 when company headcount should rise to 12,000 from 5,000 now. Playing down the possibility of slower growth and an eventual power glut, ABB chief executive Jurgen Dormann said rising demand for power and automation equipment would drive 20% annual growth over the period, some of those sales generated by newly acquired companies. He said the company was over-invested in Europe and needed to invest more in China and other low-cost markets, adding the company planned a new research center for Beijing. ABB would also shift some purchasing operations to China, Dormann said.