VZCZCXRO7332
RR RUEHAG RUEHCN RUEHDF RUEHGH RUEHIK RUEHLZ
DE RUEHGZ #0987/01 1000337
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 100337Z APR 06
FM AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4368
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GUANGZHOU 010987 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EB, EAP/CM, EAP/PD 
STATE PASS USTR 
USDOC FOR 4420/ITA/MAC/MCQUEEN, CELICO, DAS LEVINE 
USPACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KIPR ECON EINV KPAO PINR CH
SUBJECT: Short March:  Shantou In the Light On Innovation 
 
REF:  Guangzhou 10542 and previous 
 
(U) This document is sensitive but unclassified.  Please 
protect accordingly.  Not for release outside U.S. 
Government Channels.  Not for internet publication. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  Two Shantou companies -- Guangdong 
Golden Glass and the Shantou Institute of Ultrasonic 
Instruments -- demonstrate that this eastern Guangdong city 
does have its share of innovative companies despite its 
reputation of being the "heart of the heart of darkness" in 
intellectual property rights (IPR) malfeasance.  End 
Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) In Consulate Guangzhou's "short march" sojourn in 
Shantou (reftel), local FAO Director Fang Haishun purposely 
wanted Congenoffs to visit two enterprises that are 
successful innovators with patents and other IPR to 
protect.  This would offset the often negative impression 
that observers have of Shantou as a nitty gritty town that 
specializes in counterfeiting (septel).  Accordingly we 
were escorted to the privately owned Guangdong Golden Glass 
Technology, Ltd., and the state-owned Shantou Institute of 
Ultrasonic Instruments (SIUI). 
 
Clear-Seeing and Clear-Thinking Golden Glass 
--------------------------------------------- 
¶3.  (SBU) Guangdong Golden Glass (GGG) Chairman Zhuang 
Dajian enthusiastically welcomed the Consulate party, 
saying that the company has grown immensely since being 
founded in 1992.  Now with a total registered investment of 
HK$54 million (US$ 7 million), GGG specializes in 
designing, engineering, manufacturing and installing 
complex and advanced curtain wall, structural glass wall, 
skylights, canopies, etc.  Specifically, these include 
tinted energy conserving glass, glass capable of 
withstanding hurricane winds, and hardened glass that can 
withstand weapons fire and close proximity bomb blasts. 
Zhuang proudly demonstrated that GGG glass could withstand 
proximity blasts, immense weight (including being driven 
over by heavy trucks without cracking or damage), and 
impact by hard objects (metal and stone propelled against 
sheets). 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Zhuang said that GGG holds a small number of 
patents, but more importantly has considerable experience 
in designing and producing according to client design. 
Moreover, GGG has an outstanding track record of working 
with better known international specialty glass companies 
and has many partnership and technology/manufacturing 
agreements with Pilkington, Asahi, Glaverbel, Guardian, 
Saint Gobain, and others.  These constitute the company's 
IPR strengths and underlie the choice of the company by the 
Tokyo subway system to supply the hardened glass to be used 
in new construction at the Tokyo Station in the system. 
Indeed, the factory floor was filled with specialty glass 
in huge pallets destined for the Tokyo project. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) As to why GGG chose Shantou to locate its main 
facilities, Zhuang said that municipal leaders had 
delivered on commitments welcoming such an enterprise. 
Moreover, the area had a sufficient supply of raw materials 
for making glass. 
 
Ultrasound Company 
------------------ 
¶6.  (SBU) At our next stop, SIUI President Li Delai said 
that the company specializes in medical ultrasound devices, 
inducers, and industrial flaw detectors, producing about 
5000 ultrasound devices and 15,000 transducers per year, 
with sales growth in ultrasound devices from 2800 units per 
year in 2003 its current level.  It also has the capability 
to build 100 different types of transducers.  Li said that 
since beginning operation in the 1970s, the company has 
advanced from primitive black and white displays to color 
digital Doppler imaging.  It has partnered with Tsinghua 
University in Beijing and the Guangdong Digital Signal 
Processing Institute for research and development and has 7 
patents with 2 additional patents pending. 
 
 
GUANGZHOU 00010987  002 OF 002 
 
 
Competitors, Partners, and Markets 
---------------------------------- 
¶7.  (SBU) The major markets for SIUI are Europe, the Middle 
East, and Southeast Asia.  The United States is the largest 
market for ultrasound devices and SIUI is now developing 
ultrasound devices to be used in veterinary practices. SIUI 
sells both domestically and overseas using its own brand 
name.  Competitors include Toshiba, Hitachi, Philips, 
Siemens and General Electric (GE).  SIUI has partnered with 
GE medical and Philips for purposes of marketing and 
product development.  Most of the manufacturing equipment 
and raw materials for the ultrasound devices and 
transducers come from overseas.  For example, crystals for 
transducers are imported from Motorola in the United States 
because they are of superior quality although much more 
expensive than local crystals.  SIUI is a national key 
enterprise with state ownership.  Li said that the company 
would be converted into a stock company over the next year. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) SIUI has a highly automated factory line, but 
what gives the company a slight advantage over its 
international and domestic counterparts is the fact that 
there is a major labor-intensive component to the 
production of ultrasound devices.  This is in the necessity 
for individual employees to join optical fibers under high 
magnification view to the transducers.   This is 
painstaking work requiring a high degree of expertise. 
 
Comment 
------- 
¶9.  (SBU) Both of these companies appeared well-run, with 
research and development components aiming to improve both 
products and manufacturing processes.  Both also were 
paying close attention to design -- GGG because of its 
desire to expand its architectural glass market and SIUI in 
trying to "package" its ultrasound devices in a manner that 
making them more convenient for medical personnel to use. 
This creativity and innovation takes place in a city where 
the IPR bureaucracy is bumptious at best (septel) -- a good 
reminder on how the good coexists with the bad. 
 
Dong