China Array Plastics LLC - www.chinaarray.com

 Areas of expertise:
   • Injection Molding
   • Performance Polymers
   • Molds
   • Prototypes
   • Post Molding/Accessories
   • Quality Control
   • Cad/Cam

Company Overview:

In 1980, Russell Johnson, founder of China Array (formerly, Spectra International, Inc.) signed the company's first contract with the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), the third largest company in China and the only corporation with cabinet status in the Chinese government. The contract, to manufacture stainless steel food processing equipment, marked the beginning of 16 years of continuous trading between China Array and CSSC. Business grew as the companies worked together to meet US FDA quality standards and delivery schedules based on market demand rather than government quotas.

Over the years, China Array gradually gravitated away from large State Owned Enterprises (SOE) moving through stages to TVE's, a uniquely Chinese form of ownership, to privately owned companies, and finally to setting up its own Wholly Owned Foreign Enterprise (WOFE): the equivalent of a foreign subsidiary. China Array has dealt with virtually every form of business enterprise China has to offer. But, the company's original involvement with the pioneering men and women of those State Owned Enterprises who had the task of first opening up to the West was a special experience. Creating contracts that accommodated both the Chinese and US legal systems and then implementing them to manufacture goods to meet unfamiliar US requirements took a leap of faith, a lot of good will, and a keen sense of humor. The graciousness and courtliness of our hosts in those early days and the elaborate banquets, with an etiquette now rarely found today, did much to overcome the technical, legal, and financial obstacles that arose. Business moves forward, but I will always have respect and affection for the China State Shipbuilding Corporation of that era.

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