A state-owned Chinese company, China Paper, is seeking to develop a project in the agriculture sector here.
Describing itself as a large, multi-national company, China Paper yesterday advertised for the services of a competent local firm to provide environmental and logistical services for its operations. According to an ad in the Sunday Stabroek, the company is seeking to develop a project in the agriculture sector in Guyana.
Wholly owned by China Chengtong, according to the company’s website, China Paper Corporation (China Paper) is the sole state-owned large-sized enterprise engaged in production, development and utilization of forest pulp paper among central enterprises. Its products involve pulp, cultural printing paper, coated white paper, special paper, totaling dozens of varieties and topping the Chinese paper-making industry by both quality and output. China paper runs three listed companies, namely Foshan Huaxin Packaging Co., Ltd., Guangdong Guanhao High-Tech Co., Ltd. and Yueyang Paper Co., Ltd.
Its parent company, China Chengtong Holdings Group Ltd. (China Chengtong), is a large enterprise group under the supervision of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of the State Council, with total assets of RMB 55 billion. It was a board-of-directors pilot for wholly state-owned companies founded and completed by the SASAC in the first batch. It also was a pilot for the companies operating state-owned assets.
The main businesses of China Chengtong are asset management, integrated logistic service, capital goods trade as well as production, development and exploitation concerning forestry, pulp and paper. The group’s business also covers prompt goods wholesale market, tourism, cultural and packaging industries. At present, China Chengtong owns more than one hundred subsidiary companies all over China, the website says.
In relation to China Paper, it says that the company faithfully fulfills the state’s strategic mission, actively advances forest-pulp-paper integration, and transfers from only seeking paper-making capacity expansion horizontally to vertical extension through controlling upstream resources.
“China Paper is committed to becoming an internationalized paper group leading in the market. While constantly improving industry chain, the company voluntarily undertakes social responsibilities, practices environmental protection and provides better products and services,” the website says.
According to the company, its “overseas layout” concentrates in South America, Southeast Asia, Russia and other countries and regions. It says that with the support from national policies and auxiliary capital, China Paper strives to own an annual papermaking capacity of over 5 million tons and an annual pulp-making capacity of over 5 million tons and control over 10 million “mu” (Chinese acre land measurements equivalent to 1/6 of an acre) of forest lands both at home and abroad at the end of the period of the 12th Five-Year Plan, with assets, income and profit all to new levels.
The website says that China Paper strives to become a world-class company in terms of forest-pulp-paper integration in ten years. “Through unremitting efforts, China Paper will develop into a resource controller from a pure manufacturing enterprise, improving discourse power in the industry and leading the future of paper industry,” it says.
The company’s interest in the specific area of the agriculture sector here is not clear.
There have been moves to have Trinidadian investors establish agricultural operations here and recently Trinidad’s Food Production Minister Devant Maharaj disclosed that the Canje Basin has been identified for agriculture development under the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding between Guyana and the twin island republic.
Maharaj said Trinidad would advertise for expressions of interest in the coming weeks and once investors responded, site visits would be arranged and proposals solicited. At this point both Guyana and Trinidad would be involved in the process of evaluating proposals.
