DSM keen on fueling innovation in China

China will need to find quick fixes for issues like food security and pollution during its rapid urbanization process, a top official of Royal DSM, the Netherlands-based multinational life sciences and materials sciences company, said on Monday.

China is no longer the manufacturing machine of the world and cannot depend on it for sustained growth, said Feike Sijbesma, chief executive officer of DSM.

"Instead, China needs to focus more and more on innovation, for example, on new alternative energies such as solar, wind and bio, and new ways of manufacturing food to sustain growth," he said.

DSM is keen to partner with China in these sectors, he said, adding that food and energy have become key growth areas for the company.

Sijbesma said that there has been a lot of migration from rural to urban areas in recent years in China. "Every time someone goes from a rural area to a city, we lose a food producer and gain a consumer," said Sijbesma.

"Urbanization and economic growth go together and as such put lots of pressure on the food system," he said. "China's food safety and quality can be further improved," he said.

As the consumption power of China's middle class grows, the public requires higher standards for food quality, which also explains the boom in the imported food market in first-tier cities in the country.

Premier Li Keqiang has highlighted China's food security issue several times during the State Council meetings this year, saying that the country must put in place a strict food security supervision system.

China's food safety law, which was drafted in 2009, was submitted to the authorities for final approval last week, and is expected to fill the gaps and adjust to the changes.

As one of the biggest food ingredient manufacturers in the world, DSM opened its China Animal Nutrition Center in Bazhou, a city in Hebei province, in May.

The new center focuses on swine and poultry nutrition, and aims to meet the needs of the fast-growing market in China which accounts for more than 50 percent of the global market.

Nathan Bird, vice-president of DSM Nutritional Products China, said the investment in the center demonstrates the company's commitment to China as an important growth area in the animal nutrition sector.

Huge growth in the consumption of traditional energy sources such as oil and coal - energy that produces emissions and pollution, has led China to make efforts to shift to alternatives such as solar. DSM has been working on a coating product that can raise the efficiency of photovoltaic solar panels.

Sijbesma said the company is also working on a number of products, which are still under wraps, for the solar sector and that they would be unveiled at an opportune time.

Although China's economy is slowing, DSM's business in China grew steadily last year with its total sales reaching more than $1.7 billion.

"The growth of the food market is slowing a bit at this moment, but I believe it will continue at a relatively high number in the future," said Sijbesma. "It depends on how well we adjust to the needs of the Chinese market for food. We can adjust more and more to the Chinese habit of eating. Therefore, we can grow our business faster."

DSM has been changing with the time. It was traditionally a coal mining company when it was established. Then it became a petrochemicals company. In the past few years, the company changed into a life sciences and material sciences company through selling assets and acquisitions.

"What makes the difference is the open mind, external orientation, and the guts to do what you are good at," said Sijbesma in response to questions on the company's transformation.

"China will continue to grow, and it will adapt itself," he said. "The new leadership, with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li at the helm, is very much aware of issues like climate change, food security, energy and the need to end corruption. They are addressing all these issues to make the Chinese economy have a long-lasting growth," he said.

If you have any problems with this article, please contact us at app@chinadaily.com.cn and we'll immediately get back to you.