GE Brings Good Things… to China
February 4, 2010
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General Electric, exporter of thousands of U.S. jobs, is running a major ad campaign called American Renewal. The radio, television and print ads give the impression that GE is now a champion of “Made in America.” One print ad boasts “We call it the American Renewal. And it means making things right here in America. The American Renewal is happening.”
Maybe the ad agency should check in with GE’s plans for China. Bloomberg.com is reporting that GE announced a new joint venture with the China Aviation Industry Corp. I to sell avionics systems for new aircraft. The venture plans to bid on work for the single-aisle C919 aircraft that China is developing to “compete with the best-selling 737 model from Boeing Co and the A320 from Airbus SAS.”
The venture will create 200 jobs at GE’s Grand Rapids facility in Michigan, but there was no mention of how many jobs will go to GE’s China Technology Center in Shanghai, which will house a commercial aviation center.
China also announced it will build a research and development center in Shanghai to develop engines for the C919 and for a home-grown version of a jumbo jet scheduled to go into service in 2016, as reported by chinaknowledge.com. The center will have a floor area of 300,000 square meters and accommodate 3,000 research staff. The jumbo jet will initially carry engines supplied by CFM, a joint venture of Europe’s aerospace and defense group, Safran, and General Electric. CFM also plans to build an assembly line in China to supply engines for the C919.
