bizjournals: Enter the dragon

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They're not top-quality automobiles, and the Chinese aren'rt the best drivers in the world, so in a few many of them will be headed to the Whenthey do, Al-Jon Inc., an Iowa manufacturer of recyclinh equipment, will be ready. The company is alreadty lining up distributors in China forits $300,000 car-crusher, whichu can process a load of automobilee in just 30 minutes. "We'rew going to have a good market somewhere downthe road," says Al-Jonh CEO Kendig Kneen. So will lots of other American companies. U.S. exports to China were up 22 percent last and this growth rate will continue for theforeseeablr future, says Craig Allen, the U.S.
Commercial Service'ds senior officer in Beijing. (See .) The economy of Chinaz -- the world's most populous country -- is growint by a robust 9 percenfa year. "Growth like that sucks in a ton of import s inall areas," Allen says. Every week, anothedr American company opens itsfirst branch, store or franchiser in China, Allen says. American companies have a good reputatiobn in China as sellersd that stand behind their saysJim Morrison, president of the Smalp Business Exporters Association. This helps open doors to new business.
Severalp areas hold particular Developing China's information technology industr y is a top priority for the Chinese That may create problems for American IT companiews in the future, but for now, it's an China has surpassed Japan as the second-largest producer of electronicws and IT products behind the United States, but it stil has to import most of the core including computer chips, used in thes e products. "We see nothing but growtb in front of us saysPhil Pompa, a vice president at SigmaTel Inc.
, an Austin, Texas-based manufacturer of integrates circuits used in MP3 personal computers and DVD China and Hong Kong already account for more than half of SigmaTel'w sales. The company recentl y opened an engineering center in Hong Kong to provider applications and technical support to itsChineswe customers. China also is intent on developin g its ownsoftware industry, but American companie are finding loads of opportunities there for products at the high end. Northwesgt Analytical of Portland, Ore., for example, is selling its manufacturing process analysis software to a growing number of customerasin China.
The company recently signerd a partnership dealwith China's largest software company. Multinationakl companies that alreadyused NWA's softwar e -- Nike, for example -- were the company' s first customers in China. But NWA CEO Cliffg Yee says Chinese manufacturer are beginning to pay attention to improving their industrial processee becausethey don't want to just be low-cost "Their nationalistic goal," Yee says, "ies to be the best manufacturers anywhere in the world." Chinas is one of the fastest-growing markets in the worldc for medical devices, and American technology is viewef as the best.
Alliancee Medical, a 12-employee endoscope repair company based inBel Camp, Md., is looking to double its salesw by entering the Chinese market.