Companies

Train maker heads overseas to further expansion plans

By Zhang Qi (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-04-09 09:54

BEIJING -China CNR Corp, one of the nation's leading train manufacturers, aims to open factories in Australia and Eastern Europe to tap international opportunities, said a senior company executive on Friday.

"CNR will continue to establish manufacturing bases abroad, especially in countries with high business volumes," said Gao Zhi, CNR's vice-president and chief financial officer.

Workers at a railway yard perform maintenance work on high-speed trains produced by China CNR Corp in Beijing. The company's overseas operations contributed 4.49 billion yuan ($685 million) in sales in 2010. [Photo/Agencies]?

"Australia and Eastern European countries are our next targets," he said. CNR has formed a 50-50 joint venture with Poland's PKP Cargo SA in Warsaw to manufacture trains for European markets.

In January, the company signed an agreement with the Australian miner Fortescue Metals Group Ltd to deliver 260 mining cars to Australia. Boasting axle loads of 40 tons, they are the world's largest freight cars for rail.

CNR has been exporting freight cars to Australia since 1999, when it became the first Chinese train maker to export such vehicles to a developed economy. It has also worked with global miners such as Rio Tinto Group and BHP Billiton Ltd. In all, CNR has already exported more than 5,000 freight cars to Australia.

The company's overseas operations contributed 4.49 billion yuan ($685 million) in sales in 2010, while its exports reached $1.39 billion, according to its annual results released on Friday.

Gao said the company aims to raise the proportion of overseas business to 20 percent by 2015 to become a truly international company.

The Shanghai-listed company reported revenue of 62.18 billion yuan in 2010, an increase of 53 percent year-on-year, while its net profit was 1.91 billion yuan, 45 percent higher than the previous year.

Related readings:  China CNR 2010 net profits surge 45%  CNR to deliver high-load freight cars  China CNR, CSR jump on reports of UK deal  Train makers hope to be on track for big US rail plan

Gao said CNR has already signed two railway projects in Brazil and plans to bid for more deals in Venezuela and Saudi Arabia.

China operates a high-speed rail network with a total length of 7,531 kilometers, the world's longest. With a budget of 2 trillion yuan, the network will serve more than 90 percent of the population by 2020, according to the government's blueprint.

Apart from developing the domestic market in response to fast-growing demand, the nation has also made moves to take a bigger slice of the global market.

China has signed agreements for bilateral cooperation on railways with more than 30 countries since 2003, including the United States, Russia, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Poland and India.