Caterpillar's Oberhelman: 'We Have a Wide Open Playing Field in China'

March 22, 2012
Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman doesn't seem fazed by any concerns of a hard or soft landing for the Chinese economy. At least that was the impression I got from listening to his comments in a recent interview on CNBC Asia's "Squawk Box." "We look at ...

Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman doesn't seem fazed by any concerns of a hard or soft landing for the Chinese economy.

At least that was the impression I got from listening to his comments in a recent interview on CNBC Asia's "Squawk Box."

"We look at China as a very long-term market here," Oberhelman said on the program. " largest construction-equipment market in the world today. We want to be here in a bigger way, and of course we're investing all the time for really what will be a 20- or 30-year run."

While China is notorious for demanding that foreign manufacturers transfer their technology in exchange for access to its markets, Oberhelman asserted that "technology transfer has not been a problem for us."

He also noted that Cat's exports from the United States to China have more than doubled in recent years.

Here's the interview:

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For more on Cat's growth plans in China, read "Caterpillar to Expand its 'Flagship' Factory in Xuzhou, China."

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