GE Hosts China EPC Forum on Innovation, Partnership

BEIJING, Oct. 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Today at the China EPC Forum, more than 300 representatives from government, China's engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) industry and multinational companies discussed the business opportunities in emerging markets in line with the "Belt and Road" initiative. The forum aims to incubate an innovative and globalized ecosystem for China's EPC industry to accelerate growth in the outbound engineering business.

Hosted by General Electric, the forum and its sideline workshops brought major EPC players together, including Power China, Energy China, CMEC, CNPC, and more. Focusing on the growth of EPC in China, participants shared opinions on issues such as collaborating mechanisms between Chinese EPC companies and international equipment suppliers, opportunities in emerging markets, financing and mitigating risks, international reputation management, and the application of energy technology on construction projects. Chinese EPC players agreed to keep expanding the open and innovative collaboration with global partners for a broader market and a brighter future. 

Steve Bolze President and CEO of GE Power & Water delivering a speech

Emerging countries have strong demands for clean energy and infrastructure construction. According to the World Bank, about one in seven people in the world still live without electricity, while nearly three billion cook with polluting fuels. Benefiting from the large market and the "Belt and Road" initiative, which prioritizes infrastructure in economic policy, China's EPC industry has been enjoying rapid growth. However, it is also facing challenges such as higher requirements from project owners in engineering design, international technical standards and funding.

"We are committed to building an ecosystem with Chinese EPC companies, developers, financial institutions and governments to support infrastructure expansion around the world," said Rachel Duan, GE senior vice president, president & CEO of GE China. "With our leading technology, rich global resources and financing solutions, GE can help create an environment for innovation and partnership to drive the industry's long term growth. "

Rachel Duan, GE senior vice president, president & CEO of GE China delivering the opening remarks

GE has 20 years of experience working with Chinese EPC companies, providing advanced equipment for power and oil and gas infrastructure projects built by Chinese EPC companies in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Europe. Recent EPC projects were shared at the forum, including:

• Leading Technology Empowering Populations in Developing Countries - The Bhikki combined cycle power plant will be the largest, most efficient power plant in Pakistan. GE provided two units of 9HA.01 gas turbines for the 1.1GW project. GE has signed a MOU with the government to develop Pakistan's energy resources to meet the projected demand of 54,000 MW by the year 2020. In Egypt, GE and Power China's Shandong Electric Power Construction Company set up a consortium for two combined cycle power plant projects. The facility utilizes 8 GE 9FA gas turbines, with an installed capacity of 2,250 megawatts, providing 10% of Egypt's electricity supply.
• Gain Strong Regional Foothold through Collaboration – CNPC is collaborating with GE's regional units to deliver natural gas pipeline projects. It will connect China with Central Asia, covering 25 provinces and Hong Kong, benefiting 500 million people. As the equipment provider, GE delivered 28 compressors and aero derivative gas turbines for nine compressor stations. GE has also worked with the project owner to aggregate data, provide project solutions and mobilize GE China and local teams in Central Asia to coordinate between companies.
• Developing New Markets Through Global Financing - Sinomach and GE signed a MOU to work together on the Kipeto Wind Power Project, financed by Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) as sole lender to the project.  OPIC is the US government's development finance institute and is part of the Power Africa Initiative. The Kipeto project will have an installed capacity of 102 megawatts (MW) for Kenya's power grid.  GE is also working with Energy China in delivering two GE 9E gas turbines for the Shajibazar power project in Bangladesh, funded by various international banks and guaranteed by Sinosure.

Carrying its long-term partnership with China's EPC companies, GE believes that a strong EPC ecosystem in China will bring more successful stories, change people's lives, and achieve a win-win future for both emerging countries and their infrastructure builders from China.

About GE

GE (NYSE: GE) is the world's Digital Industrial Company, transforming industry with software-defined machines and solutions that are connected, responsive and predictive. GE is organized around a global exchange of knowledge, the "GE Store," through which each business shares and accesses the same technology, markets, structure and intellect. Each invention further fuels innovation and application across our industrial sectors. With people, services, technology and scale, GE delivers better outcomes for customers by speaking the language of industry. www.ge.com

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