So the reason for improving even more on intellectual property for the Chinese Government has changed. Formally it is to satisfy Western companies, but now it is in the interest of the Chinese industry, the modern industry.

Furthermore, Chinese companies still need partners to build international trade. You see many Western companies coming to China using joint ventures with local companies to build up sales forces in China. Though there is more investment in China than the other way around, China is now increasingly catching up.

The next problem for a Chinese company will be: if Chinese companies come up with new products, innovative products, how do they market them? OEP will add to the value they create. The Chinese companies need reliable sales and marketing forces outside China. That is a challenge for many companies, because if a Chinese company comes to Germany and hires German sales people, the German sales people will ask: how serious is this company? China has a few companies that have done that right. One of them is Haier. They did a great job in going international. But the thing in the chemical industry, specifically small and medium-sized companies, is they don’t know how to do that. And they will never be able to do that alone. They don’t have the resources, and the patience and so on. That’s also why they need OEP to help them.

Why does OEP have special interest in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)?

I think you will see a change in the composition of the Chinese chemical industry. Yes, there are many big companies like Sinopec, but there are lots of SMEs all over the country. If the Chinese Government is serious about sustainable development and environmental protection, I think it is getting serious. So it’s not the government’s fault if someone pollutes. Now the regulations in China are as rigid as in Germany. But many SMEs don’t have the know-how. Even if they could buy the know-how, they don’t have the money to invest in environmental protection. That means they would have to either form partnerships with someone else, or simply go out of business. The polluting companies won’t be allowed by the people any more. There will be a complete change in the Chinese chemical industry in the next 10 years, and many of the small companies will go out of business. The big ones will grow. There will be new small ones-those with innovation and new technology. They need to be very capital intensive, not only the State-owned enterprises, but also the big private enterprises. For instance, the Dalian Shide Group, which is a very big chemical company. They will have the capital to do that. A lot of changes are going on, and the Chinese chemical industry’s story has just begun.

The Chinese chemical market in the year 2015 will be larger than the North American chemical market. If you want to be players in the world chemical industry, you have to have a presence in China. That’s why I want to interact with the Chinese market with the help of Chinese companies.