OREANDA-NEWS. December 14, 2011. Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TOKYO: 6503) announced that together with its wholly owned Chinese subsidiary, Mitsubishi Electric (China) Co., Ltd., it has agreed with Shihlin Electric & Engineering Corporation (TAIWAN: 1503) to establish a joint venture company in Xiamen, Fujian Province, China to develop, manufacture and sell low-voltage  switchgears. Operations are scheduled to start in October 2012.

The new company, Mitsubishi Electric Low Voltage Equipment (Xiamen) Co., Ltd., will be located on the premises of Xiamen Shihlin Electric, an affiliate of Shihlin Electric & Engineering. The company will have paid-in capital of 6.5 million USD, or approximately 500 million Japanese yen, with Mitsubishi Electric, Mitsubishi Electric (China) and Shihlin Electric holding 60 percent, 10 percent and 30 percent shares, respectively.

The joint venture is expected to have a workforce of 110 by the end of March 2016, and targets annual sales of 7 billion Japanese yen, or 540 million RMB, by the same fiscal year.

Manufacturers are increasingly migrating from China's economically developed eastern coast to central and western regions where the government is promoting development with incentives. New production facilities and offices are stimulating the demand in these regions for low-voltage switchgears, which are used in control panels for manufacturing equipment and electrical distribution systems in buildings. Mitsubishi Electric intends to meet these increasing regional demands while also expanding its low-voltage equipment business nationwide through the new joint venture with Shihlin Electric.