China A-Z: Six Companies You Should Know About

From A: AEE Technology – to Z: Zhongyin Battery, China has had a plethora of companies represented at the just finished Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Many, as expected, are manufacturing companies.

The phrase Made in China conjures up oddball toys, gadgets, child labor, poor working conditions, poorly made products and cheap knockoffs. Although that reality has not been eradicated, the attending companies are trying desperately to change the world's opinion. Their company profiles emphasize certifications of quality and corporate concern for the betterment of the employees.

Older industrial parks on the mainland still reflect the communist architecture – flat, dull, with employees living where they worked, in crowded, dreary dormitory style housing.

However, newer facilities and attitudes reflect the desire to modernize and provide a positive front to the outside world. As a traveler, I experienced both in this enigmatic country.

Typical of the rethinking and repositioning within Chinese companies is the Foxda Technology Company's claim to have been accredited with certificates for Quality ISO9001, Environment ISO14000 and SA8000 Social Responsibility.

Foxda has corporate offices in Hong Kong. Their manufacturing facilities are part of a company-owned industrial park in Shenzhen. It includes working and living areas, a dining and entertainment district and an employee library which "enriches the employees' afterhours life."

Looking to add to their already 4,000 employees, Foxda's website indicates that they have a range of exciting positions available for talented university graduates, including software engineers. With some imagination, by reading their stated intentions, you can get a feel for how they are trying to value their employees by:

Lifting of employees' spiritual levels and reforming of individual behavior.

Scientific, modern and humanistic enterprise management.

Maximization of enterprise's economic benefits and optimization of individual development of employees.

Those employees focus on designing and manufacturing mobile phones, portable video cameras, music players and personal media players. Foxda claims more than 100 national and international patents; for example, a Three-in-One technology of USB, headphones, and Line-In jack. Their clients include RCA, Koss, Hitachi and Grundig.

Early in 2010, the company held a Spring Festival Evening in the Foxda industrial park, saying that "various wonderful programs fully reflected the employees pleasant working life." Later that year, Foxda said that according to Shenzhen city minimum salary standard rules, they had raised the employees' monthly wage to 1100 CNY (currently equal to $165.90 USD) with overtime pay rate calculated according to the new regulation.

Another Chinese high tech company that places emphasis on their legitimacy is AEE Technology. They have 3C, FCC, CE certifications and ISO9001/ISO14001 certification in China. Lodged in their own Hi Tech Park in Nanshan District, the R&D manufacturer and sales company specializes in the development and application of wireless AV transmission technology.

AEE's products are used by police and military. The company describes the high resolution digital video camera, the PD91, as working automatically when a gun is used. It supports AVI video format, 640x480 @30(max)fps, has built-in 8GB Micro SD card and can take a 32GB Micro SD card. There is a built-in MIC for video and audio recording synchronously, with a USB 1.1/2.0 port, all powered by a built-in rechargeable six hour Li-battery.

AEE's 207AE, 2.4GHz, weather-proof, night vision camera illustrated below has 380TV lines clear picture display, built-in 11 IR lights for 7m night vision range, channel scan and channel skip for multi-camera usage, 4-channel available to avoid interference, a built-in microphone for audio monitoring and a minimum 100m transmission distance without blocks.