Source;Yazhou Zhoukan

29 April 2011 – The "2010 Top 100 Hong Kong-listed Mainland Chinese Companies” Award organised by YazhouZhoukan, a leading Chinese magazine in Asia, had a grand award presentation ceremony to announce winners of the awards at the Harbour Grand Hotel in Hong Kong. China Zhongwang was honoured to be a winner of the “Best Business Performance Award". Ever-changing market conditions are no hindrance to China Zhongwang but serve as a driving force to propel it to new heights.

Founded in 1993, China Zhongwang, after 17 years of development during which it has witnessed market ups and downs, is today the third largest developer and producer of industrial aluminium extrusion products in the world and the largest in Asia. Capitalising on the global environmental conservation trend of reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions, the Group rapidly expand the industrial aluminium extrusion product business to manufacture high-end products which have extensive applications in the transportation, machinery and equipment and power engineering sectors.

The Group’s scale of operations and net assets rank it as an industry leader internationally and has delivered unprecedented growth in the past three years.

China Zhongwang’s key to success lies in its solid foundation in terms of technological advantage and state-of-the-art equipment for the production of high-end industrial aluminium extrusion products, its visionary management which sets its sights on long-term growth, and a corporate culture that emphasizes change and innovation. These enable the Group to seize opportunities on both sunny and rainy days.

Starting as a producer of construction aluminium extrusion profiles in 1993, China Zhongwang became a market leader in China’s construction aluminium extrusion products market in the 1990’s. As China’s economy started to sky-rocket, the demand for construction aluminium extrusion products continued to climb in 2001. Mr. LIU Zhongtian, Chairman of China Zhongwang, however, did not immerse himself in the simple filling in of orders. He started to think about the future direction of the company and of ways to increase its profitability and ensure sustainable growth. Making references to the experiences of international players in the industry, Mr.Liu had the foresight to anticipate intensifying competition in the construction aluminium extrusion product market which came about because of the low entry barriers with respect to technology and capital investments. As the person behind the wheel steering the company’s direction and growth, Mr.Liu realised that it was only through making use of the company’s integrated advantages in proprietary technology and capital resources to focus on the development of high-end, high value-added industrial aluminium extrusion products, that it would stay at the industry forefront, well ahead of its peers to reap long-terms benefits.

“Pursue what the market lacks, outstrip your peers and turn to new growth areas ahead of anyone else”

The experience of international players inspired Mr.Liu to firmly believe industrial aluminium extrusion products was the way to go, as it required high capital investment and advanced technology to enter the market. Mr.Liu leveraged the extensive experience and solid foundation that China Zhongwang had built over the years in construction products to enter the market of industrial aluminium extrusion products, which naturally eliminated competition from players without core competencies and increased the Group's price bargaining power as well as profitability. Looking at the growth pattern of the Chinese economy at that time, Mr.Liu saw immense potential in the transportation, machinery equipment and electric power engineering sectors as these industries received strong government support. Abiding by his management philosophy–“Pursue what the market lacks, outstrip your peers and turn to new growth areas ahead of anyone else” –he led the company on the road of business transformation, setting a major milestone in the company’s history and entering a new phase of growth.

                                                                                 Mr. LIU Zhongtian, Chairman of China Zhongwang

Investments in world-class industrial aluminium extrusion production facilities

In recent years, along with the global trend of reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions, development of light-weight energy saving products for the transportation, machinery equipment and electric power engineering sectors has been the mainstream trend. In the field of transportation, the demand for high quality, high-precision, large section industrial aluminium extrusion products for use in railway passenger and cargo carriages, city rails, automobiles, heavy-duty trucks, marine vessels, aviation and aero space has been rising. China Zhongwang entered this arenaas early as 2002 and enjoyed first-mover advantage.  Substantial investments for the development of an advanced R&D centre and large-scale production equipment were made in the past decade and as such, the Group remains at the industry forefront in terms of R&D, technology level and manufacturing strengths. As at the end of 2010, the Group possessed a total of 73 state-of-the-art aluminium extrusion production lines. Its 125MN oil-driven dual-action extrusion press is the largest and most advanced of its type, not only in China but also in the world. The Group is one of the few producers of high-end large-section aluminium extrusion products in the world, with production capacity of 640,000 tons as at the end of 2010.

China Zhongwang manufactures high quality, high-precision, large section industrial aluminium extrusion products for use in the transportation sector.

Integrated production facilities

Improving productivity and strengthening capabilities for the production of large section industrial aluminium extrusion products have been the pursuits of China Zhongwang. The Group has made considerable investment in developing an integrated manufacturing base that has strong capabilities in terms of product research and development, alloy smelting and casting, die design and extrusion presses, as well as other manufacturing procedures to ensure that different departments work seamlessly together. Currently, China Zhongwang operates the world’s leading aluminium alloy smelting facilities and the largest special aluminium alloy die design and manufacturing centre in Asia. These world-class facilities enable the Group to deliver products that are of the best quality.
 

China Zhongwang’s world-class smelting and casting facilities can produce customised aluminium alloy billets to the specific needs of customers.

Unrivalled R&D that defines our future

R&D has always been a priority of China Zhongwang and constitutes a major part of its competencies. The Group is committed to developing new technologies and know-how for aluminium and aluminium alloys, and making use of new materials as well as new equipment to sharpen its edge. Its full-fledged R&Dcentre has been accredited as a Provincial Enterprise Technology Centre which is further sub-divided into three centres for research, design and testing. With over 380 high calibre R&D engineers and staff to take care of the entire value chain from research, design and  production to quality control, the R&D centre serves as a platform for continual research and  innovation.  

China Zhongwang’s aluminium die design and manufacturing centre is the largest in Asia.

Expansion to high-end processed aluminium products and flat rolled products

In line with the global light-weight product development trend, applications of industrial aluminium extrusion products in the transportation sector are expected to climb. Growth will also come from aluminium replacing other types of metals and materials. Nevertheless, the ever-changing conditions of international markets also bring about challenges. The Group will take an objective view to tackle market and regulatory changes and progress in a steadfast manner. Going forward, China Zhongwang will focus its resources on tapping opportunities in the mainland China market, which will be complemented by mostly high-end product exports to overseas markets.

“China Zhongwang has entered a new phase of development,” said Chairman Liu. “We will continue to hone our edge in four key areas, namely, aluminium alloy smelting, die design, production and new product development. We will further expand our business to the manufacture and sophisticated processing of aluminium products and, at the same time, make good use of our established market and customer base in the industrial aluminium extrusion product sector to vigorously develop a new business arm for aluminium flat rolled products,” Mr. Liu said.

“Aluminium flat rolled products mainly include mid-to-high thickness aluminium plates, foils and tapes that are widely used in the aviation and aerospace, marine vessels, rail transportation, machinery and equipment, packaging and electronics industries. Entering this business will not only further enhance the Group's product research and development capabilities in aluminium alloy casting and other aspects, but also take advantage of the Group's downstream customer and market resources. It is expected to generate synergies with our existing business and will help form a new growth engine. We have every confidence in our future development,"Mr.Liu added.

With these solid strategies in place, China Zhongwang is well positioned to reach new heights and return for the same “Best Business Performance Award” next year. 
                                                  

China Zhongwang operates a total of 73 world-leading aluminium extrusion presses, production lines, among which is a 125MN oil-driven dual-action extrusion press that is the largest and most advanced of its type, not only in China but also in the world.