Chinese widen fieldbus use

InTech, Oct 2001

News

Fieldbus Foundation technology is being adopted in China at a rapid pace, as evidenced by strong support from the region's end-user community, said Fieldbus Foundation president Richard J. Timoney.

The foundation's 2001 China End User Council (EUC) meeting 11-12 June in Qingdao, People's Republic of China, was attended by more than 100 end users from diverse areas of Chinese industry.

Organized by the China Fieldbus Foundation Committee, the EUC meeting was sponsored by 12 foundation member companies: Emerson Process Management, Endress Hauser, Foxboro, Honeywell, MTL, National Instruments, Pepperl Fuchs, Rockwell Automation, Smar, Turck, Yamatake and Yokogawa.

"China is one of the world's fastest-- growing markets for the installation of Foundation fieldbus," said Timoney. "Market studies indicate there are over 70 Foundation fieldbus installations in China and more than 4,000 registered fieldbus devices in operation across multiple industries, including petrochemical, beverage, biotech, and chemical."

He added, "There is no doubt that Foundation fieldbus is enjoying rapid acceptance in China and other developing areas throughout Asia-Pacific."

Speaking to EUC attendees, Zhu Mingkai, vice president of the China Instrument Manufacturers Association, and Pu Zhiyi, deputy director of the Qingdao Economic and Trade Commission, underlined the impact of new automation technologies on modernizing China's process industries.

Member volunteers making Foundation fieldbus-related presentations included Michael Wei, chairman of the Fieldbus Foundation China Marketing Committee (FFCMC), and Ricky AuYeung, general secretary of FFCMC. Cao Ying Dong, a Smar engineer, discussed the foundation's high-speed Ethernet interoperability testing.

End users sharing their application experiences with Foundation fieldbus included Wang Hao, chief engineer of Shanxi Guanghua Glass Co. Ltd., and Wu Bopei, chief instrumentation engineer of Wuhan Youji Industries Co. Ltd.