Anuruddha Rathninde, Asia-Pacific president of Johnson Controls (China) Investment Co Ltd, an outstanding foreign national in Changning District who was awarded the Shanghai Magnolia Silver Award in 2023, has this year received the Shanghai Magnolia Gold Award.

Rathninde loves Chinese culture and deeply admires the wisdom of ancient Chinese people. In his office, decorations rich with Chinese elements, such as shadow puppets, paper-cuttings, replicas of bianzhong bells, and Peking Opera figurines, are dotted throughout, reflecting his profound appreciation for Chinese culture.

Back when he received the Magnolia Silver Award, Rathninde said that this honor had brought him closer to China and also brought Johnson Controls closer to the Chinese market.

At the conferment ceremony of the second Changning District Hongqiao Friendship Award and the membership renewal meeting of the Hongqiao Friendship Alliance held last year, Rathninde was elected as the new chairperson of the alliance. He stated that, with the joint efforts of the members of the alliance, he would mobilize and attract more outstanding foreign enterprises to participate from a global perspective, enabling the alliance to grow increasingly into a powerful platform for Sino-foreign integration and exchange, and helping Changning District further expand its international visibility and influence. For over a year since then, Rathninde and alliance members have actively participated in various commercial and cultural activities in the district, contributing ideas and suggestions for the regional economic development.

Johnson Controls is a global enterprise with a profound 140-year heritage, committed to intelligent, safe, healthy, and sustainable building solutions. In June 2017, Johnson Controls' Asia-Pacific headquarters building was completed and opened in the Hongqiao Linkong Economic Park.

Under Rathninde's leadership, Johnson Controls has actively invested in the field of smart buildings. Driven by China's "dual carbon" development strategy, the team has focused on product research and development in green energy conservation, attracting the most advanced technologies and talent to Shanghai.

Furthermore, Rathninde actively promotes two-way exchange between Shanghai, China, and the world. He has led Johnson Controls to participate in the China International Import Expo (CIIE) for seven consecutive years and arranged for the debut of multiple products at the CIIE. Simultaneously, he firmly supports investing in Shanghai. He participated in multi-party coordination, facilitating the group's chairman to attend the "Shanghai Night" welcome dinner hosted by the Shanghai Municipal Government in Switzerland. He was also invited to attend the Shanghai Global Investment Promotion Conference, sharing his personal experience to promote Shanghai. Inspired by him, over a hundred expatriate executives from Johnson Controls have visited China, genuinely experiencing the country's development speed and human warmth, and through them, enabling more people within the group to see and have a favorable view of China.

Under Rathninde's leadership, Johnson Controls adheres to the "people-oriented" philosophy in giving back to society, actively engaging in various public welfare activities. Previously, Johnson Controls donated a reading corner to the Aixinyuan Nursing Home in Beixinjing Subdistrict, providing 300 books that interest the elderly, as well as equipment like computers and printers. On site, Rathninde also formally signed the Johnson Controls and Beixinjing Subdistrict Public Welfare Activity Cooperation Agreement with Beixinjing Subdistrict, becoming another vivid case in Shanghai of enterprise-community collaboration supporting elderly care and public welfare causes. In June this year, Johnson Controls also donated digital education equipment to Lvchun County in Yunnan Province for parent-child reading spaces in libraries and reading corners in schools, supporting local left-behind children and children in difficult situations with classical reading, online courses, and quality development activities.

Rathninde has repeatedly said that during his many years working and living in Shanghai, he has deeply and genuinely felt China's speed and warmth, and that his life, in particular, has become more splendid and colorful because of its intersection with the city of Shanghai.