HARBIN, China, Sept. 5 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Harbin Electric, Inc. ("Harbin Electric" or "the Company", Nasdaq: HRBN), a technology-oriented market leader in product development and integrated production tailored to customer applications in linear motors, motor/controller automation systems, specialty micro-motors for automobile interior applications and other specialty micro-motors, today announced that Ms. Lanxiang Gao, a nationally renowned expert in the research and development of specialty micro-motors, has been appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Shanghai Tech-Full Electric Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Harbin Electric, and will be a member of the senior management team of the Company, effective September 1, 2007.
Lanxiang Gao, 55, has nearly 30 years of experience in the research and development of specialty micro-motors having worked for Shanghai No.21 Research Institute, a research and development institution under the state-owned China Electronics Technology Group. During her tenure there, Ms. Gao managed the development and production project of automation motors in collaboration with Sankyo Seiki, Inc. of Japan for 10 years. For the past two years, she was the Senior Engineer managing Micro Motor research and development, with a focus on the development of specialty micro-motors of automobile seats. She has won numerous government sponsored Science & Technology Progress Awards including a First Place Prize for her outstanding contributions in the research and development of electric motors. Ms.Gao graduated from Zhejiang University, China with a major in Electrical Engineering.
Shanghai Tech-Full Electric Co., Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Harbin Electric dedicated to the development and production of automobile interior specialty micro-motors and other specialty micro-motors tailored to customer applications. This business segment consists mainly of Harbin Taifu Auto Electric Co. Ltd., a manufacturer of specialty micro-motors for automobile interior applications acquired in June this year, along with a new manufacturing facility in Shanghai currently under construction. The Shanghai facility is expected to add 10 million units of specialty micro-motors to the current capacity of 2.4 million units located in Harbin. The construction of the Shanghai facility is expected to be complete by the end of 2007 and formal production is expected to start in the second quarter of 2008, after completing installation of the production lines and quality control equipment, and conducting small- and mid-scale testing.
In order to fully prepare for the start-up and to strengthen the manufacturing capabilities of the Shanghai facility, Harbin Electric also recently hired Mr. Toshikatsu Asai, an expert in manufacturing processes and technologies of electric motors, to be primarily in charge of the manufacturing processes of Shanghai Tech-Full. Mr. Asai spent nearly 38 year of his career with Mitsubishi Motor, managing manufacturing processes for electric motors and electric tools.
"The formation of the Shanghai Tech-Full subsidiary and the hiring of Ms. Gao and Mr. Asai clearly demonstrate Harbin Electric’s strategic focus on the rapidly growing our automobile interior specialty micro-motors business segment," said Tianfu Yang, Harbin Electric’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "The research and development expertise Ms. Gao brings, along with the manufacturing expertise of Mr. Asai, in the field of specialty micro-motors are a perfect combination that will enable our Shanghai subsidiary to establish an integrated management team with strengths both in development and in production -- a critical step for the development of a new business."
"We are very fortunate to add two more experts in their respective fields to our management team." Mr. Yang added. "China is experiencing robust growth in the automobile industry, particularly in passenger cars. The Company is seeking to ensure that it has all necessary resources available to it in order to grow with the domestic auto industry and capture the potential growth of the global auto industry. I am very confident that the participation of Ms. Gao and Mr. Asai will contribute significantly to the successful development of our business segment in auto interior specialty micro-motors."
"It is a great pleasure to join Harbin Electric’s Shanghai subsidiary. I am convinced that Harbin Electric has the potential to become the market leader in automobile interior specialty micro-motors," commented Ms. Gao. "I am grateful to the Company for giving me this opportunity and an environment where I can apply my years of experience and expertise. I look forward to contributing to the continued growth of Harbin Electric."
About Harbin Electric, Inc.
Harbin Electric, headquartered in Harbin, China, is the market leader in linear motors, motor/controller automation systems, specialty micro-motors for automobile interior applications, and other specialty micro-motors and is the first and currently the only Chinese company to provide product development and integrated production tailored to customer applications. The Company is highly technology-oriented with a focus on innovation, creativity, and value-added products and is environmentally conscious and socially responsible. It provides its customers with energy efficient products and its employees with friendly working and living conditions, competitive compensation, and reasonable work schedules. One of the Company’s greatest assets is its strong R&D capability achieved by recruiting talent worldwide and through collaboration with top scientific institutions. Its ISO certified manufacturing facility is equipped with state-of-the-art production lines and quality control systems to ensure product quality. Driven by advantages in closer customer relationships, better understanding of local markets and customer needs, and lower production cost, the Company is able to outperform its competition, which is mainly foreign, and has steadily improved its competitive position in the domestic linear motor market. With fast economic growth in China and favorable government policies, Harbin Electric has formulated and is in execution of a multi-faceted growth strategy to expand the business into the linear motor systems for urban mass transportation and rotary motors with a clear focus on providing high-end, energy efficient products. To learn more about Harbin Electric, visit http://www.harbinelectric.com .
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking information about the Company that is intended to be covered by the safe harbor for forward-looking statements provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. These statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believe," "expect," "may," "will," "should," "project," "plan," "seek," "intend," or "anticipate" or the negative thereof or comparable terminology, and include discussions of strategy, and statements about industry trends and the Company’s future performance, operations and products. The actual results of Harbin Electric, Inc. could differ materially from those described in this press release. Detailed information regarding factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by statements in this press release may be found in the Company’s periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the factors described in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in its quarterly report on Form 10-QSB for the quarter ended June 30, 2007. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in the press release.
For investor and media inquiries, please contact:
Harbin Electric, Inc.
Barry L. Raeburn
Tel: +1-215-854-8104
Email: info@HarbinElectric.com
cQuest, a Christensen Affiliate
Christy Shue
Tel: +1-917-576-2209
Email: cshue@ChristensenIR.com
