INTERVIEW-Nabtesco to form 2 joint ventures in China in 2010

TOKYO, Oct 30 - Japanese precision machinery maker Nabtesco Corp, which holds the top market share in door operators for bullet trains, said it would form two joint ventures in China in 2010 to tap the country's growing investment in public transport.

Nabtesco, like European rivals Alstom SA, and Siemens AG, is focusing on China as Beijing is splashing out $500 million a year on new subways, monorails and inter-city high-speed train systems.

"The key is an alliance with Chinese local manufacturers," Nabtesco director Ben Sakamoto told Reuters in an interview on Friday. "We hope that will help bolster our share of the lucrative subway system market to over 50 percent in five years."

Nabtesco, which estimates it holds 25-40 percent of China's market for brake systems for subways and inter-city railways, plans to form two 50-50 joint ventures for brake control systems and door operators later in 2010, Sakamoto said.

Nabtesco, owned more than a third by foreign investors, estimates it controls more than 90 percent of the Japanese market for door operating systems for the Shinkansen high speed trains.

Sakamoto, the president of Nabtesco's railway products company, also said the company expects to provide its brake control systems and door operators for 2,000 railway cars for China's inter-city high-speed train systems over the next few years.