BITZER sets up competence centre for rotary compressors with joint-venture partner in China

Together with a long-standing Chinese partner, BITZER is establishing a joint venture in the Province of Jiangsu in eastern China. Starting next year, the company will produce rotary compressors for smaller capacities exclusively for the Chinese market in Zhenjiang.

‘A lot is changing in China at the moment,’ explains Rainer Große-Kracht, Vice Chairman of the Executive Board and Chief Technology Officer at BITZER. ‘The demand for air conditioning is growing and the decarbonization of heating cannot be stopped in China either, so the demand for small- and large-capacity heat pumps will grow enormously.’ And these are a typical application for smaller-capacity rotary compressors. Good reasons for a new collaboration: together with a long-standing Chinese partner, BITZER is currently building a new plant with a total of 90,000 square metres of production space on around 160,000 square metres. Work is scheduled to start in the first half of 2022: around 1,000 employees are expected to then produce up to three million rotary compressors per year in a start-up curve. In the long term, the independent refrigeration and air conditioning specialist plans to have up to six million rotary compressors a year coming off the production line in China. ‘More than 85 per cent of the world’s demand for rotary compressors is in China,’ says Rainer Große-Kracht. Martin Büchsel, Member of the Executive Board and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at BITZER, adds: ‘We therefore see great and sustainable potential in the Chinese market for sales of this compressor technology, which is new to us.’

‘The new joint venture is a win–win situation for us,’ explains Martin Büchsel. ‘Since we offer our rotary compressors exclusively on the Chinese market, the association with our partner, who has excellent contacts in the Chinese market, helps us.’ This partner, in turn, has a partner at its side in BITZER, which, as a refrigeration and air conditioning specialist, primarily produces and markets reciprocating, screw and scroll compressors worldwide in the very best quality. With the rotary compressors, BITZER now has four different compressor technologies available for its Chinese customers – as the only manufacturer worldwide. The goal of the new joint venture, as with other BITZER products, is to generate quality and innovation that stand out from the competition – in order to be recognized as a benchmark with the new rotary compressors in the near future.