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they would be able to make profit even in the first year of their operation.
69.
When touring the factory, we observed that most of the workers were engaged in assembly work, and that the operation was somewhat overstaffed. Given that it was not a joint venture and that Canon did not subcontract the production of parts and components to local Chinese operations, there was very little technology transfer to China. The factory was no more than an offshore Japanese operation making use of the cheap land and labour in China. In fact the scale of this factory was possibly larger than similar Canon operations
in Japan.
Visit Activities on 18 October (Friday)
70.
The delegation visited two factories and the Dalian Port Authority, toured the Dalian harbour and had a round-up session with the Mayor on 18 October.
Factory Visit - Dalian Refrigerator Equipment Works
71.
We first called at a state-owned factory, the Dalian Refrigerator Equipment
Works ( 大連冷凍機廠 ) and met its Senior Economist, Mr. Zhang He (
*). We were told that the factory was one of the best equipped industrial operations 和 in China, with 4 100 workers and an area of 35 000 sq. m in the Dalian operation. It also had branch factories in other parts of the Liaoning Province, and engaged a total of 20 000 workers. The factory produced various types of refrigerating equipment including freezers for storing fruits, ice-makers and refrigerating compressors. Annual production was about 14 000 units, 60% of which were exported, mostly to Hong Kong.
72.
According to Mr. Zhang, the factory was determined to produce high quality
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