CHENGDU, China, Jan. 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Phase I of Unilever Project West, Unilever's global manufacturing base in Meishan, Sichuan, has been completed and become officially operational.
H.E. Henk Kamp, Minister of Economic Affairs of the Netherlands, Li Jing, Secretary of the CPC Meishan Municipal Committee, and Marijn van Tiggelen, President of Unilever North Asia, cut the ribbons for the new facility at a launch ceremony today.
With an investment of about 40 million euros (300 million RMB), Phase I of the project is responsible for the production of OMO laundry detergent series with an annual capacity of nearly 200,000 tons. The products will mainly serve the markets in China's western regions. In the future, the production base, which covers an area of about 400 mu (26.7 hectares), will gradually cover the full product line of Unilever China.
Unilever Project West is an important step in the company's industrial layout in China. With progress in the development of the new Silk Road Economic Belt, the opening of the Chengdu-Europe Express Railway, and the upgrade of the Tianfu New Area to national status, Sichuan is expected to play an increasingly important role in international economic and trade co-operation.
The geographical advantages and strategic position attracted Unilever to chose Sichuan to set its third global production base in China. Close to markets in China's Western regions, transportation costs will be significantly reduced. In fact, about 1500 km of mileage will be saved for each shipment compared with that from Unilever's Hefei Plant.
While it better serves the markets in the west, the project will also help develop talent locally. The project, in particular, will bring Sichuan the international experience in developing a world-class green production base.
"China has always been the market with the greatest potential for Unilever. As one of the first international companies operating in Meishan, Unilever has great confidence in the economic development of this region and we feel proud to be a part of it," says Marijn van Tiggelen, President of Unilever North Asia.
"The construction of our new plant here in Sichuan is an important strategic step in the expansion of our global manufacturing base. In the future, we will make more efforts to expand our market in smaller cities in order to satisfy the demand in Southwest China," says Mr. Tiggelen.
After Unilever's construction in Meishan, the majority of key detergent raw material suppliers also followed in its footsteps. And two leading detergent packaging suppliers have built their bases close to Unilever's plant. The positive ripple effect of a whole new value chain will bring more benefit for Sichuan's economic development.
Li Jing, Secretary of the CPC Meishan Municipal Committee, says, "Unilever's choice is of great importance for both of us. After the construction, Unilever can further develop the market in China's West regions and expand its global manufacturing bases. And at the same time, it will help Meishan to build capability for developing daily chemicals industry, so as to achieve great-leap-forward economic development. Meishan government will continue our support to Unilever project with best service, friendly development environment. Together I believe we can build a world-class modern enterprise here in Meishan."
Unilever Project West also serves as a model of China-Netherlands co-operation. In the future, products manufactured at Unilever Sichuan plant would also be intended for export.
The construction of the production base has made full use of Unilever's global experience. The base is equipped with state-of-the-art manufacturing systems, promising high productivity. At the same time, it was designed with sustainable development in mind, putting in place measures to limit the project's impact on the environment.
