Jul 31 2010
On July 19th, POSCO, for the first time as a single company, signed an agreement to build comprehensive business partnership with China`s Jilin Province and actively participate in the urban and industrial development.
Chairman Joonyang Chung and Governor Rulin Wang of the Jilin Province agreed to carry out joint projects in five fields—steel, automobile, construction, public works, and the cutting edge industry—and signed the cooperation agreement. At the signing ceremony, Wu-ik Ryu, Korean Ambassador of China, and Secretary Sun Zhengcai of Jilin Province attended.
This cooperation agreement was made upon request of Jilin Province according to the plan of revitalizing Northeast China region (Jilin, Liaoning, Heilung-kiang) , a core development goal of China.
Jilin Province official mentioned that POSCO is an ideal partner for the project as it has experience in carrying out public development projects and also has a wide range of businesses such as steel and E&C.
At the meeting held before and after signing the MOU, Chairman Chung also emphasized that, "Jilin Province not only has an extremely high economic growth rate, but is also geographically located in an important position near the Korean peninsula. POSCO`s business capabilities and Jilin Province`s developmental wills combined can create a win-win future."
The MOU includes various businesses of POSCO including not only steel, but also construction, ICT, and bio, allowing for the implementation of a firm industrial base of the northeastern provinces of China.
First in the steel field, the company will participate in the construction of a steel material processing base, rationalization of a steelworks, and development of steelmaking materials, while also providing steel products necessary for the rapidly increasing automobile manufacturing and railway trains.
Cooperation in the construction field which includes many national level projects is even more extensive allowing POSCO E&C to participate in the construction of the Changchung New City development, distribution base, and Northeast Asia distribution passageway and harbor.
In addition, POSCO agreed to strengthen cooperation in cutting edge fields such as bio-ethanol utilizing corn which marks 50% of China`s production, electric cars, and information communication.
POSCO and Jilin Province agreed to review the feasibility of constructing steel material processing base and building the Hunchun region`s Korea Industrial Complex centered on the Jilin Province Economic and Technical Cooperation Bureau and POSCO China.
The Northeast China has the highest economical growth rate, having achieved an annual average growth rate of 12% even amidst the 2009 financial crisis, while Jilin Province of this region marked first in the automobile industry. The region is also adjacent to North Korea, Mongolia, and Russia, rising as the center of the Northeast Asia region.
With the Jilin Province joint cooperative effort, POSCO plans to establish a distribution route to the Mongol, Far East, and Manchuria regions by securing market dominance centered on the steel industry in the Northeast China region, and also will secure stable revenue sources by forming a balanced portfolio of steel and non-steel industries to.