New working area at Qingping Mine. [Provided to China Daily]
Two years after the Wenchuan earthquake, China National Chemical Corporation's (ChemChina) operations in Sichuan province have made a strong recovery.The company was one of the earliest to start reconstruction after the deadly 8.0-magnitude earthquake, and has restored normal production in Sichuan, launched several new projects and built a number of apartments for employees.
The Sichuan Bluestar Machinery Co Ltd, a subsidiary of ChemChina's Chemical Equipment Corporation, has overcome problems caused by the quake and is now faring well. The company seized the opportunity brought by favorable government policies and has expanded its market. In 2009, it received new orders of more than 400 million yuan and achieved an annual output growth of 4.81 percent. The company is located in Mazu Township near Shifang, and employs more than 1,000 workers, with a registered capital of 171 million yuan.
The company's business includes three parts: pressure vessels, castings and forgings, and environment protection, with an annual output of more than 400 million yuan. It is the largest pressure vessel manufacturer in southwest China.
In March and April, the company signed a 60 million yuan order for spherical tanks and won a bid to produce gasification furnaces for a national coal gas project.
The company's post-quake reconstruction project in Deyang is almost complete. The new production base, located in the Deyang Economic and Technological Zone, will have several lines producing heavy containers, stainless steel, special containers and spherical tanks.
The heavy container workshop has been put to trial use until the end of April, with key equipment installed. The construction of the special container workshop and the spherical tank workshop is near completion.
With all the new production lines in the first phase put into use, the company is expected to reach a production capacity of 1 billion to 1.2 billion yuan, becoming a leading chemical equipment manufacturer in the country.
Homes for workers
The Deyang Haohua Qingping Phosphorus Mining Company, another branch of ChemChina in the quake zone, has been doing reconstruction with an aim of building a modern phosphorus industrial park and a home for its workers.
On November 22, 2008, the company restored production after overcoming difficulties resulting from the earthquake.
In 2009, 80 percent of the company's production capacity before the earthquake had been restored. In the same year, the average income of the company's workers increased by 43 percent compared to 2007. The company is expected to reach a production output of over one million tons in 2010, equal to the level before the quake.
In addition to production recovery, the company has built new apartments for its workers. In Mianzhu district, 19 economical new apartment buildings (containing 658 apartments) have been built, thanks to cooperation among different sectors. About 90 percent of the company's workers will move into the new apartments, with hospitals, supermarkets and canteens in the same neighborhood.
Today, all the reconstruction work of the Qingping Mine has been completed after an investment of nearly 100 million yuan from the company.
In the Qingping mining company, direct economic loss amounted to 410 million yuan.
In Bluestar Machinery Company, 3 workers were killed and more than 300 were injured with direct economic loss reaching 232.5 million yuan.
With support from ChemChina, branch companies have quickly restored production and improved their workers' lives. It is hoped that the new projects will help the companies to achieve sustainable development and extend local industrial chains.
