Sany Group and Harbin Aircraft Industry Group (HAIG), two of China's heavy industrial giants, plan to expand their business in Europe, China Securities Journal reported on February 2.

Sany Group:

Construction machinery giant Sany Group is spending 100 million Euros on a manufacturing base, comprising a factory, a research and development center and a training center, in Germany. The manufacturing base will be the largest ever built by a Chinese company in Europe.

The factory, which will produce 3,000 construction machines annually, is expected to net 48.02 million Euros in profit from annual European sales of Euro 350 million.

Sany Group decided to build the complex to cut the cost of importing parts, including chassis, pumps and engines from Europe. It signed the contract on January 29 this year in a ceremony attended by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

HAIG:

Aircraft producer HAIG is cooperating with Airbus China, the Chinese branch of the global aircraft manufacturer, to set up a manufacturing center in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province.

The manufacturing center, expected to be completed in two years, will produce components for the Airbus A350 XWB program. According to the contract, signed by Laurence Barron, president of Airbus China, and Pang Jian, CEO of HAIG, in Madrid on January 30, the Chinese side will hold an 80 percent stake in the joint venture, with Airbus holding the remaining 20 percent.

The joint venture is part of a program under which China will manufacture five percent of the A350 XWB airframe in line with a memorandum signed between the National Development and Reform Commission and Airbus in November 2007.

According to a joint declaration issued between China and Spain during Premier Wen Jiabao's recent European visit, the two countries plan to expand cooperation in a number of fields, including telecoms, finance, transport, renewable energy, environmental protection and tourism.

(China.org.cn by Wu Jin, February 3, 2009)