GE shutters R&D centre in Shanghai as markets eagerly await CEO Flannery’s strategic review
The US engineering giant says the move will result in the loss of only a small number of jobs, but will increase investments in advanced manufacturing and robotics in China
The US conglomerate General Electric, as part of its cost-cutting efforts, is closing its R&D operations in Shanghai and transition it to an engineering centre.
The company told the South China Morning Post said it will strengthen localisation efforts and increase investments in advanced manufacturing and robotics in China, which is “an important and critical market for GE”.
The shutdown will affect “only a very small percentage” of its over 3,000-strong research and engineering team in China, it added.
Other research sites in Munich, Germany and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil will also be closed, leaving GE only two global research centres, one in Niskayuna, New York and the other in Bangalore, India.
“China is an important and critical market for GE,” the company said.
“While we will no longer continue corporate research in Shanghai, we are doubling down on localisation, advanced manufacturing, additive manufacturing, robotics, digital, and building stronger partnerships with Chinese customers as they go global.
“These are the right moves to position GE in China for longer-term success,”it said.