Day 4: Shanghai-Suzhou, Wednesday, June 20, 2012

The topic of the day was “Outsourcing of Research and Development (R&D)” to specific countries in Asia, such as China. Since many years multinational firms relocate their production to low cost countries. However, recently multinational firms started to outsource parts of their R&D departments to China. As an example of a Swiss firm which does part of its R&D in China, we could visit ABB Shanghai Transformer Co. Ltd. in Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park.

ABB’s relation to China dates back to 1907 when former Asea delivered a steam boiler to China. In 1995 ABB China started its expansion. Nowadays ABB China has 35 local settlements and over 18’300 employees. ABB’s production and R&D in China focuses on the Chinese market.  R&D in China is guided by the idea “In China for China”. The main point is to enhance the competitiveness of ABB China in comparison to their local competitors which have developed very quickly. To remain competitive, ABB China has to be located closely to the Chinese market and its consumers. This guarantees to be able to react rapidly to changing market and consumer preferences. ABB’s R&D-department works closely together with Chinese top researchers. Thanks to great engagement of ABB’s manager and their good English skills we enjoyed a very interesting visit.

Ready for our through the ABB factory! (Photo: Philipp Danioth)

After three amazing days in Shanghai we travelled further northwest to Suzhou on board of a high-speed train that exceeeds 300km/h. Arriving in Suzhou, the adrenaline emission continued while the taxi trip resembles a rollercoaster ride. After a successful check-in at the hostel, the group was divided. A few decided to learn more about the traditional silk industry while others relaxed in the world famous Chinese Gardens of Suzhou. They are masterpieces of Chinese landscape garden design in which art and nature are integrated perfectly to peaceful harmony. Some of Suzhou’s 2'500 years old garden, bridges and canal system are part of the UNESCO world heritage sites. Suzhou is also called the “Venice of the East”.

The Humble Administrator's Garden - One of the great gardens in Suzhou (Photos: Philipp Danioth)

Apart from the great tradition of the garden, it was a great area for relaxing. It was a good chance to play cards, where we realized that Swiss German cards are more popular in our group, even though we represent the University of Bern. However we figured out that the students from Bern have the so-called “Schälle Banner dilemma”. In addition we had some interesting meetings with Chinese people who seemed to like card games. Based on their reaction we figured out that they may think that Swiss German cards look a bit childish.  We suddenly felt connected to the Chinese culture and made a few intercontinental encounters.

Step count on our pedometer: 19 724

Philipp Danioth, Samuel Zahner

The "Jass Delegation" of the University of Bern (Photo: Philipp Danioth)

Jonas taking the Swiss-Chinese relationship to a new level (photo: Philipp Danioth)