20 | Friday, July 19, 2019 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY BUSINESS BELT & ROAD INITIATIVE Chinese firms mainstay of Vietnam solar project By ZHANG XIAOMIN in Dalian improve Vietnam’s energy mix by and YANG JUN in Guizhou providing 520 million kilowatt­ hour of clean energy per year to Work on the Hong Phong 1A and the local power grid. It will also 1B Solar Power Plant at Bac Binh in save 175,000 tons of standard coal Binh Thuan province, Vietnam, and reduce carbon dioxide emis­ the largest single solar photovolta­ sions by 439,000 tons. ic power generation project in the Guiyang Engineering Corp has Asia­Pacific region, undertaken by completed the reconnaissance Chinese companies has been com­ and design work on a 16,000 MW pleted smoothly. hydropower station and a 5,000 “The project is a new milestone MW new energy power generation for Vietnam, especially setting up project at home and abroad. such a big, quality solar power According to Wang Jin, deputy plant in seven months,” said Nguy­ director of New Energy Design en Manh Hung, secretary of the Institute of PowerChina Guiyang provincial party committee. Engineering Corp Ltd, China has PowerChina International been the world’s largest PV market Group Ltd and PowerChina Gui­ for five consecutive years in terms yang Engineering Corp Ltd were of installed solar photovoltaic the two Chinese enterprises that capacity. successfully executed the project. “Statistics from the Internation­ The two companies had bagged al Energy Agency show that Chi­ the order despite competitive bids na’s photovoltaic modules from other countries like Japan, accounted for 72 percent of the France, Canada, and India. global market in 2018,” she said. According to Lei Shengjun, gen­ Wang said, with a complete PV eral manager of the overseas busi­ industrial chain, advanced tech­ ness department of PowerChina nology, and rich experience in A Dongbei Special Steel Group Co Ltd employee helps move finished steel products at a factory in Dalian, Liaoning province. Guiyang Engineering Corp Ltd, development and construction, WANG YANG / FOR CHINA DAILY the contract was signed in August Chinese companies are able to 2018, and it took just seven provide comprehensive one­stop months to complete the construc­ services to the whole industrial tion work before power genera­ chain. tion and was connected to the grid Following the BRI, Guiyang Steel enterprises taking the in June. Engineering Corp, which is locat­ The plant has an installed capac­ ed in Guiyang National High­tech ity of 325 megawatts and compris­ Industrial Development Zone, has es 50 photovoltaic arrays of nearly developed water conservancy, 1 million solar cells spread over an hydropower, new energy and pre­ area of 400 hectares. fabricated buildings in South smart manufacturing plunge “The solar photovoltaic panels America, Africa, and central and are supported by 160,000 precast western Asia. reinforced concrete piles and “In the future, we will turn to 2,200 kilometers of transmission more new energy projects in over­ Growing awareness propelling SOEs, 28.7 percentage points higher than adoption of smart manufacturing, lines,” he said. seas markets,” said Lei. the national average, and 19.9 per­ because they are willing to invest in According to Lei, the project is a private companies to transform, upgrade cent of them were ready to realize related equipment and technologies key undertaking in the Belt and Contact the writers at zhang­ smart manufacturing, 12.9 percent­ to increase productivity and reduce Road Initiative and will help [email protected] By LIU ZHIHUA age points higher than the national carbon emissions, in pursuit of [email protected] 78.1 average, according to a recent high­quality development as a posi­ percent report from China Industrial Con­ tive response to the national agen­ China’s steel industry is veering trol Systems Cyber Emergency da, according to Wang. of large­scale steel companies Wipro eyes bigger reach toward smart manufacturing, used digital control systems Response Team and the Contempo­ The private sector is also now thanks to the growing awareness for key production procedures rary Service Alliance for Integra­ more willing to spend money on about high­quality development at in China last year tion of Informatization and smart manufacturing upgrades, State­owned and private enterpris­ Industrialization. because they have become aware of in grooming segment es, said experts, adding that major Wang Guoqing, research director the ample returns on such invest­ breakthroughs could be expected in gies, especially as wide application at Lange Steel Information ment, as smart technologies will By HE WEI in Shanghai the sector in the next five to six of cloud and big data technologies is Research Center, said as more and bring about higher efficiency, lower [email protected] years. becoming a reality in China.” more steel companies are investing costs and increased profitability, China has the “Smart manufacturing is a realis­ Li made the remarks during a in smart manufacturing­related she said. Wipro Consumer Care, the per­ tic way for the steel industry to forum on smart manufacturing in projects, it is highly likely that a Since 2015, the Ministry of Indus­ sonal care products unit of Indian potential to be our transform and upgrade, and is also the steel industry, in Xingtai city, number of Chinese steel companies try and Information Technology has conglomerate Wipro Ltd, is plan­ second­largest and important for the high­quality Hebei province. will realize smart manufacturing announced four batches of pilot ning to be the second­largest player development of the sector,” said Li He said that the Chinese steel before 2026. smart manufacturing projects in South China by taking a bigger even the largest Xinchuang, president of the China industry has achieved remarkable Wang said smart manufacturing nationwide, and nine steel projects slice of the market from rivals market, given the Metallurgical Industry Planning progress in production automation is a whole­supply­chain process that have been selected. Procter & Gamble Co and Unilever and Research Institute. and digitalization of management includes not only steel production, Most of the companies selected Plc, fueled by growth across all cat­ sheer size of the “Although smart manufacturing processes, providing a solid base for but also smart technology­based are State­owned enterprises, such as egories and a notable growth in the personal care market.” in the steel industry is still at an ear­ further transition to smart manu­ raw material sourcing, inventory Angang Steel Co Ltd and China men’s grooming segment. ly stage in China, the development facturing. management, and marketing, and Baowu Steel Group, while two pri­ Aside from consolidating its Nagender Arya, regional of the industrial internet provides Last year, 78.1 percent of large­ needs to be customer­focused. vate companies, Hengyang Valin market position in Guangdong director of East Asia and Africa at Wipro Consumer Care an important platform for the Chi­ scale steel companies adopted digi­ Currently, a lot of State­owned Steel Tube Co Ltd and Shandong province, Wipro is looking to tap nese steel sector to make better use tal control systems in key companies, such as China Baowu SNTON Steel Cord Co Ltd, were also Central China and finally eastern of smart manufacturing technolo­ production procedures, which was Steel Group, are taking the lead in selected. China regions, driven by an in demographics when the young­ expected compound annual er population are willing to spend growth rate of over 20 percent in far more time and money on per­ three years and revenue nearly sonal grooming to look good. doubling in the same period, said The other game­changer relies on Business opportunities aplenty in nation, says expert Nagender Arya, regional director the individualistic tendency among of East Asia and Africa at Wipro male consumers, which means that SAN FRANCISCO — Bright Consumer Care. people want unique products tai­ prospects still remain for compa­ “China has the potential to be lored to one’s specific needs. nies and investors looking at China our second­largest and even the “It means they don’t want a for growth opportunities, despite largest market, given the sheer product that their family can use. the slower growth rate, a top eco­ size of the personal care market,” They want their preferences nomic expert said. Arya told China Daily in a recent because of higher awareness, and China’s gross domestic product interview. The company’s China higher exposure to the outside grew by 6.3 percent in the first six business is currently worth 1 bil­ world,” he said. months of this year on an annual­ lion yuan ($145 million) and ranks Consultancy Euromonitor Inter­ ized basis, the National Bureau of third after India and Malaysia. national had estimated the total Statistics said on Monday. Wipro has adopted a step­by­ market for male grooming con­ The rate, which is significantly step, gradual expansion approach. sumables in China would reach slower than the 9.4 percent a decade Currently, 80 percent of the reve­ 14.2 billion yuan in 2018. The firm ago, in fact registered greater incre­ nue comes from Guangdong prov­ said that the market grew at a com­ mental expansion since the base ince, but Arya believed the pound annual growth rate of 6.5 today is 182 percent larger, said company’s ability to localize prod­ percent over the past five years, Andy Rothman, investment strate­ ucts for consumer needs has with growth of 6.9 percent last year. gist at San Francisco­based invest­ helped it gain strong market share But according to a White Paper ment firm Matthews Asia. in a province that “has more than launched by e­commerce site “The incremental expansion in 90 million population and is Tmall and L’Oreal last year, there the size of China’s nominal GDP among the top GDPs in the world”.