New aluminum park to boost green strides

Yunnan project to create employment opportunities for over 12,000 people

Work on a green aluminum industrial park being set up by the Yunnan provincial government and Shandong Weiqiao Pioneering Group Co Ltd, a Fortune Global 500 company, commenced in Wenshan autonomous prefecture of the province on Wednesday.

Being set up with an investment of 40 billion yuan ($5.72 billion), the project has already attracted nine enterprises across the aluminum industry value chain. When fully operational, its annual sales and industrial output are expected to reach 100 billion yuan and 30 billion yuan respectively and will create 12,000 jobs for local people.

The commencement of work at the park also marked the beginning of Shandong Hongqiao's two-phase relocation of 30 percent of its smelting capacity, totaling 2.03 million metric tons annually, from Binzhou city, Shandong province, to the hydropower-rich prefecture bordering Vietnam, in pursuit of green capacity and more presence in the Belt and Road related markets. Shandong Hongqiao is a sister company of Weiqiao Pioneering.