Schneider Electric is a top Global 500 company, and has been advancing and innovating aggressively over the course of more than 170 years. Schneider Electric is now the global specialist in energy management. Since the establishment of its first joint-venture plant in Tianjin, China, in 1987, Schneider Electric has established a strong foothold in the market, and has grown together with the Chinese economy. It has witnessed different phases in China’s growth over the past 23 years, and has made it a part of its own mission to contribute to a sustainable development of the Chinese economy.

Key Facts:
• China is the company's second largest market in the world
• 28,000 employees in China
• Three R&D centres and a Schneider Electric Training Institute
• 28 factories, seven logistics centers and 53 offices throughout the country

How Schneider Electric grew with China

Soon after China's reform and opening up in the 1980s, Schneider Electric established its first joint-venture factory, under the brand Merlin Gerin, in Tianjin in 1987. The most outstanding contribution made by Schneider Electric in that period was to bring circuit breaker technology into China, replacing the traditional fuse, and eventually setting new standards for breakers in China. This move greatly enhanced the safety of power and improved the living standards of the Chinese people.

Furthermore, China saw the end of lighting pull cords in the early 1990s, following the introduction of more advanced technology from Clipsal, a Schneider Electric brand.
As China's markets opened up to the world in the 1990s, Schneider Electric accelerated its expansion. In the period from 1992 to 2000, Schneider Electric established the Schneider Electric (China) Investment Co. Ltd, its first R&D centre, as well as seven factories and three logistics centers. Schneider Electric's huge amount of investment constituted strong support for China’s economic construction. Schneider Electric provided advanced product support and sophisticated technical services for China's economic development: the company’s industrial products, such as the low-voltage apparatuses, drives, and contractors, were extensively used in China's industrial development.

Schneider Electric has developed within the Chinese market, keeping pace with the booming economy and supporting the country’s development goals and priorities. In 2008, Schneider Electric was involved in 43 venues and auxiliary facilities for the Beijing Olympic, providing products and solutions that helped the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games become the first “green” Olympics. In 2010 Schneider Electric continued its support of large scale projects in China, providing technical support and solutions for the Shanghai World Expo's Hall 4, as well as 23 other venues.