In exchange, Higgins said, Moltech will ship some of its advanced manufacturing technology to China. Huayi will set up a plant in Shanghai to provide batteries for the Chinese domestic market, including Huayi's electric bicycles.
"There are some incredible subtleties at work here, and we're getting to pick and choose where we apply the advantages," he said. "The Shanghai operation gets some very capable equipment and know-how at a good price; we get access to Chinese materials, which helps us be competitive in North America."
Huayi's US$20 million investment is likely to lead Moltech to triple annual sales over the next three years from US$50 million currently, Higgins said. It will also create more than 2,000 jobs in Florida, China and Juarez, Mexico, where Moltech sends its US-made batteries duty-free to be packaged under the terms of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement.
With the acquisition, Huayi, which started making alkaline dry cell batteries in China in the 1930s, will become one of the world's four biggest manufacturers of rechargeable batteries, capable of making about 240 million batteries a year, Li said.
Gillette's Duracell is the largest rechargeable battery maker, followed by Energizer and Rayovac.
WTO membership has helped open China's eyes to possibilities that have always been there, Barshefsky said.
"This is a function of China's development and its desire to do what nations and companies around the world all do: move capital to where it is the most productive," Barshefsky said.
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