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At Yokogawa, the focus has never been only on profit, explains Amit Mittal, General Manager – Life Business at Yokogawa China.
“It’s all about giving back to society, supporting researchers and helping strengthen the ecosystem so we can improve the drug discovery process,” he tells The CEO Magazine.
When Mittal first arrived in China in 2022 to build Yokogawa’s life science business, the opportunity was still in its early stages. He later relocated to Shanghai in 2024 to work more closely with the local market and accelerate the business further.
“In our business in China, I am especially proud of the team,” he enthuses. “That does not mean I am not proud of the growth or the product, but the team is what makes everything possible.”
Yokogawa is a 110-year-old company with a long-standing culture, but its life science division is relatively new. Mittal sees that as an advantage: the business is young enough to evolve quickly, but also benefits from the stability and discipline of Yokogawa’s broader heritage.
With nearly 15 years of experience across international sales and business development, much of it spent working between Japan, China, the Asia–Pacific region and the United States, Mittal has built a career bridging cultures, markets and business philosophies.
Before moving to China, he was already working on those markets and helping develop business opportunities across them.
“My background in international sales and business development helped me focus on Asia,” he reflects. “We began with Singapore, Korea and then the opportunity in China started to grow.”
“If you want to build a strong team quickly, trust is essential.”
As the business gained momentum, Yokogawa invested in demo units, a local lab and new hires to strengthen its presence in China. From there, things accelerated, with prestigious institutions such as Peking University, Tsinghua University and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology adopting its products during the division’s earliest stages.
Today, the life science team in China numbers around 20 employees. Mittal emphasizes that building a strong team takes more than hiring talent quickly; it requires trust, openness and a shared sense of purpose.
“If you want to build a strong team quickly, trust is essential,” he says. “From day one, I try to be transparent about my goals and expectations. I want people to feel supported and confident in what they do.”
For Mittal, culture is not a slogan; it directly affects performance.
“You can have a great product, but if the people who are selling it are not motivated, they cannot represent it well,” he explains.
“Customers are not only buying a product; they are also buying the people and the support behind it.”
The division’s growth reflects not only strong demand for life science technologies in China but also a carefully considered localization strategy. Mittal says localization is essential for creating greater value for customers and the industry, while also aligning with Chinese government policies.
“In China, local production can provide clear competitive advantages,” he points out.
“You can have a great product, but if the people who are selling it are not motivated, they cannot represent it well.”
Mittal’s goal is to continue encouraging Yokogawa headquarters to expand local manufacturing and to develop more locally relevant solutions for Chinese customers.
The company already operates two factories in China and continues to invest in partnerships and co-innovation across the local ecosystem. The Life Business supports customers from basic research through production, delivery and warehouse management, helping connect processes, manage data and improve efficiency across the drug development cycle.
“What we are doing here is not simply providing solutions. We are working with customer sto help them achieve their sustainability goals,” he says.
Despite the scale of the opportunity, Mittal still believes Yokogawa’s greatest competitive advantage lies not only in its products but also in its values, business ethics, compliance and ESG.
“For Yokogawa, ethics and good faith matter deeply. These are not just words,” he insists. “They are part of how a company earns trust and remains strong for the long-term.”
“For Yokogawa, ethics and good faith matter deeply. These are not just words.”
Mittal also avoids framing the company as simply ‘big business’.
“We focus on building meaningful impact, expanding capability and contributing to the drug discovery and manufacturing ecosystem,” he says.
“At the end of the day, it is not only about building scale. It is about creating value together with customers, partners and the wider community.”
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