Italy-based CPL-NUPI Pipe launched a joint venture worth (US$3 million) in mid-March in Tianjin City, a leading industrial center of north China.
This is the first time the Italian pipe supplier has invested in China, according to company officials.
The Chinese investors in the venture, CPL-NUPI Pipe China S.r., were the Tianjin Fuel Gas Group and the Tianjin Running Water Group.
The new company is designed to produce 10,000 tons of polyethylene (PE) pipes annually with equipment imported from Austria.
The two local investors hoped the products would be used as soon as possible to upgrade the old underground gas and water pipelines in Tianjin, which are easily eroded, unreliable and environmentally unfriendly.
The Italian company also plans to make more investment in gas and water pipeline construction in Tianjin, and to expand its presence to other parts of China, the company officials said.
Currently, CPL-NUPI Pipe ranks first in Italy in terms of pipeline operation and engineering.
(Xinhua News Agency March 15, 2003)
