On the morning of June 9th, the new Smart Plant of BWT Haier Drinking Water Technology Co., Ltd. was officially put into operation in the Qingdao International Economic Cooperation Zone. The opening ceremony was attended by Dr. Andreas Riecken, Austrian Ambassador to China, ZHAO Shiyu, Deputy Secretary of the Working Committee in Qingdao West Coast New Area, President of the Administrative Committee of the Qingdao Free Trade Zone and of the Qingdao International Economic Cooperation Zone, Andreas Weissenbacher, President and CEO of BWT Group, ZHOU Yunjie, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Haier Group, Dr. Michael Berger, Commercial Counsellor of the Austrian Embassy in China, WANG Li, Executive Deputy President of the Administrative Committee of the Qingdao International Economic Cooperation Zone and ZHANG Yunqing, Vice President of the Administrative Committee of the Qingdao International Economic Cooperation Zone.
The plant is a joint venture between the Haier Group and the Austrian BWT (Best Water Technology) Group, the leading company in Europe and the third largest in the world in the field of water treatment. Both invested of 60 million Euro in this project. The plant in Qingdao with an planned area of 92 mu is one of the largest investments by German-speaking enterpris in Qingdao in recent years. The first construction phase started in June 2021 and after two year it has been officially put into production. BWT and Haier are mainly producing pre-filters, central water softeners, central water purifiers, under-kitchen water purifiers and other household water purification products. It is expected to reach a yearly production capacity of 2 million units when the plant construction will be fully finished in 2025. By then the yearly output value will be at approximately 200 million Euro. More than 650 jobs will be created.
Located in the Qingdao International Economic Cooperation Zone, the New Smart Plant is the only production, R&D and technology base of the BWT Group in Asia-Pacific. It’s the only factory in China with constant temperature, humidity and cleanliness that has been built in accordance with the HACCP international food safety management system standard for material storage, material picking, manufacturing and R&D. The project will also leverage on Haier COSMOPlat and Haier Research Institute to create a world-class water laboratory and the most advanced intelligent water treatment interconnection factory in the industry.
Dr. Andreas Riecken, the Austrian Ambassador to China, also visited the Passive House Technology Center in the Qingdao International Economic Cooperation Zone. Dr. Riecken spoke highly of the development and construction of the Qingdao International Economic Cooperation Zone. He said: "The achievements here and the attention given to the enterprises are impressive. I am very happy that such an important cooperation project between Austria and China has landed in the zone. Economic cooperation is an important area to promote exchange and cooperation between the two countries. Austria and China have a good basis for cooperation in fields like water treatment. In the future, there will be definitely more Austrian companies manufacture and operate here."
In an interview with provincial and municipal media outlets Andreas Weissenbacher, President and CEO of BWT Group, said: "The Qingdao International Economic Cooperation Zone has provided us with great support in all aspects of project approval and construction, and we are particularly grateful for this. This kind of service has brought us a great sense of pleasure. The investment environment in Qingdao is really great."
Dr. Johannes Laimer, Chairman of the Board of the BWT Haier Drinking Water Technology Co., Ltd., expressed in his speech the gratitude to the Qingdao International Economic Cooperation Zone for providing the necessary infrastructure, a lot of targeted help and quite helpful support in the process of setting up the plant. “We have received a great deal of recognition and feel very welcomed here” , he mentioned.
The smooth start-up of the project cannot be achieved without the guarantee of various service measures. In order to ensure the smooth landing of the new Smart Plant of BWT Haier Drinking Water Technology Co., Ltd., Qingdao International Economic Cooperation Zone has at the very beginning of the negotiations with the joint venture partners set up the special promotion team "Management Committee Leader + Special Team + Industry Promotion Company". During the epidemic, the special promotion team took care of all aspects of the project, from the land acquisition and construction to the completion and smooth operation, and helped the project to be successful. The smooth operation of the project will also further promote the development of the Intelligent Manufacturing Industrial Park in the Qingdao International Economic Cooperation Zone. In the next step, the Qingdao International Economic Cooperation Zone will continue to focus on investment attraction and business environment optimization and improvement, and accelerate the construction of the IC Industrial Park, the Gene Technology Industrial Park and the Smart Manufacturing Industrial Park.
About BWT Group
The BWT Group is the world's leading company in the water treatment sector, with a wide range of products for drinking water, ultra-pure water for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, water for food production, water for hotels and homes, water for community care centers, boiler water, cooling water, air conditioning water, swimming pool water, fuel cell membranes, desalination and many other applications. It was founded in Germany in 1823 and was listed in Austria in 1992. With subsidiaries in more than 80 countries, 5,500 employees and thousands of partners, production sites and R&D centers in Germany, the UK, Switzerland, and China, the BWT Group has the largest market share in Europe for water treatment (more than 70%). With a global turnover of 973 million dollars, it is among the top three water purification plants in the world.
The BWT Group produces the most professional water treatment technology in Europe and has passed a series of certifications such as ISO9001, ISO14001 and ISO5001, which are in line with HACCP standards. It has developed technologies for magnesium-mineralized water, pearl water and water for injection, and has obtained a number of patents for inventions, among which the medical water sector ranks first in the world.
