Just as US businesses are looking to expand in China, Chinese companies are looking Stateside to build and grow, but not without some challenges.
One won’t miss this sprawling facility from Interstate 90 in Elgin, Illinois, in the western suburb of Chicago. It belongs to Wanxiang America Corporation, the North American offshoot of a privately held Chinese conglomerate, Wanxiang Group, China’s biggest auto-parts maker.
The man behind it is Pin Ni, born and raised in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province in China.
Wanxiang America employs 12-thousand people and generates three billion dollars in revenue.
"If you want to be a global company you cannot miss the U.S. market and before the downturn happened in 2007 and 2008, USA was the largest auto market in the world. So Wanxiang, you know, as a major auto markets come out of China obviously we cannot miss this market."said Pin Ni, president of Wanxiang America Corp.
The widgets that Wanxiang makes end up in some of these cars you see on the road. They make them for Mazda Motor, Citroen and Cherry Automobile. This multi-billion dollar success is what Chinese companies are now wanting to replicate in the U-S.
Not everybody though has it easy getting into the U-S market. Chinese telecom equipment manufacturers Huawei Technologies and Z-T-E Corp in October faced Congressional opposition, which cited national security concerns.
Pin’s family business recently faces similar troubles. The U-S Congress earlier this year expressed national security concerns over Wanxiang Group’s plan to buy electric car battery maker A 1-2-3 Systems.
"We have been supplying a lot of products to national security-related projects but as long as we follow the procedure, there is a process in place in the United States, so all that you need to do is just to follow it."Pin told the reporter.
In the end, the deal went through, and for Pin, it’s just another day of doing business in the U.S.