South China Tire and Jianghuai to jointly set up new tire plant

(Jane Ho, ERJ special correspondent, China)

Anhui, China – South China Tire signed a contract with Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group on 18 July to jointly set up a tire plant in Hefei, Anhui province.

According to the local government's website, the first phase of the project is expected to achieve an annual capacity of two million TBR tires with 1.8 billion Yuan (€222 million) investment, and the second phase will have an annual capacity of 20 million steel-belted radial tires with 3.7 billion Yuan (€457 million) planned.

South China Tire, a state-owned company based in Guangzhou, Guangdong which makes the brand Wanli, claims to be China's largest radial tire exporter. It currently has an annual capacity of 12 million tires with over 5,000 employees and two manufacturing centres within Guangdong province, according to the company's website.

Jianghuai Automobile Group is the controlling shareholder of Shanghai-listed Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Company (JAC), an automobile manufacturer based in Hefei, Anhui. In 2013 JAC had an 85% surge in net profit to 917 million Yuan (€113 million) on 34 billion Yuan (€4 billion) annual revenue.