BAD KREUZNACH, GERMANY - The Schneider Group, a manufacturer of high-precision lenses and servo hydraulics, is expanding its position in the Chinese market with a subsidiary in Shenzhen, a city with twelve million inhabitants in the south of China. Schneider Optical Technologies (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Schneider Asia Pacific Ltd. in Hong Kong. ‘‘China is on the way to becoming one of the most significant industrial locations in the world. By setting up a local presence, we intend to contribute in this growth,’‘ says Dr. Josef Staub, CEO of the Schneider Group.

The Shenzhen subsidiary will give the Schneider Group better access to local companies. ‘‘Proximity is particularly important in China. Demand for our high-quality products will expand greatly over the next few years,’‘ predicts Dirk Muschert, managing director of Schneider Asia Pacific Ltd. Sales activities will initially focus on industrial lenses used by inspection machine makers for quality assurance equipment in manufacturing companies as well as high-performance servo-hydraulic products.

The Schneider Group specializes in the development and production of high-quality lenses for industrial applications and precision mechanics as well as industry-leading photographic lenses and filters, and cinema projection lenses, The group consists of the Jos. Schneider Optische Werke (founded in 1913) and its affiliates Pentacon (Dresden, Germany), B+W Filterfabrik (ISCO) (Göttingen, Germany), Praktica (London, UK), Schneider Optics (New York, Los Angeles), Schneider Bando (Seoul) and Schneider Asia Pacific (Hong Kong). The main brand is "Schneider-Kreuznach." Schneider Group has 650 employees worldwide, with 345 at its German headquarters.