bizjournals: Enter the dragon

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They're not top-quality automobiles, and the Chinese aren' the best drivers in the so in afew years, many of them will be headef to the junkyard. When they do, Al-Jon an Iowa manufacturer of recycling equipment, will be The company is already lininh up distributors in China forits $300,000 which can process a load of automobiles in just 30 "We're going to have a good markef somewhere down the road," says Al-Jon CEO Kendigt 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 theforeseeable future, says Craigv Allen, the U.S. Commercial Service'e senior officer in Beijing. (See .
) The economy of China -- the world's most populous country -- is growing by a robust 9 percenta year. "Growth like that suckw in a ton of imports inall areas," Allen says. Everuy week, another American company opens itsfirstt branch, store or franchise in Allen says. American companies have a good reputation in Chinaa as sellers that stand behindtheir products, says Jim president of the Small Business Exporterxs Association. This helps open doors to new business.
Severapl areas hold particular promise: Developing China's informationb technology industry is a top priority for the Chinese That may create problems for American IT companiesa inthe future, but for now, it's an opportunity. China has surpasseed Japan as the second-largest producer of electronics and IT productse behind theUnited States, but it still has to import most of the core including computer chips, used in these products. "Wre see nothing but growth in front of us saysPhil Pompa, a vice president at SigmaTel Inc.
, an Austin, Texas-based manufacturer of integrated circuits used in MP3 personal computers and DVD China and Hong Kong already account for more than half of SigmaTel's The company recently opened an engineeringy center in Hong Kong to provide applications and technical support to its Chinese customers. Chinz also is intent on developing its ownsoftwarer industry, but American companies are findinv loads of opportunities there for products at the high end. Northwesrt Analytical of Portland, Ore., for example, is sellinbg its manufacturing process analysis software to a growint number of customersin China.
The company recentlyy signed a partnership dealwith China'sa largest software company. Multinational companies that alreadhyused NWA's software -- Nike, for example -- were the company'ws first customers in But NWA CEO Clifff Yee says Chinese manufacturers are beginning to pay attentionj to improving their industrial processes because they don't want to just be low-cost producers. "Their nationalistic Yee says, "is to be the best manufacturersd anywhere in the China is one ofthe fastest-growing markets in the worlc for medical devices, and Americanm technology is viewed as the best. Allianced Medical, a 12-employee endoscope repair company based inBel Md.
, is looking to double its saleds by entering the Chinese market.