S. African minister lauds Chinese electronic giant for economic contribution

South African Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies (R) and General Manager of Hisense South Africa Liu Bin co-host a colloquium in a Hisense plant in Atlantis near Cape Town, South Africa, on March 18, 2019. Rob Davies on Monday lauded Chinese electronic giant Hisense for its contribution to the economic development in the African country. (Xinhua/Fred Barker)

South African Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies on Monday lauded Chinese electronic giant Hisense for its contribution to the economic development in the African country.

On a tour of a Hisense plant in Atlantis near Cape Town, the minister said he was happy to learn more about the achievements Hisense South Africa has made since the Chinese company set its foot on South Africa in the 1980s.

He spoke highly of Hisense's investment and technological transformation, social responsibility, the training mechanism for sustainable employment and localized supply of raw materials.

In 2013, Hisense and China-Africa Development Fund (CADF) jointly invested 350 million rand (about 24 million U.S. dollars) to establish the Hisense South Africa Industrial Park which covers an area of some 100,000 square meters with a construction area of 27,000 square meters.

The project was the largest investment by a Chinese household appliance enterprise in South Africa in the past 40 years.

From 2018 uptil now, Hisense made a further investment 72 million rand to extend its refrigerator production line, creating 120 direct jobs.

Equipped with a new U-shell production line and an additional 2,450 square meters of supporting facilities, the project has become one of the few that have the ability to locally produce high-end energy-saving ice-cooling and air-cooling refrigerators in the country, with an annual production capacity of 400,000 units.

In addition to refrigerators, the plant also produces TV sets with an annual TV production capacity of 580,000 units.

Since establishment, Hisense has provided in the past six years more than 750 direct jobs for the Atlantis region, 95 percent of which are local employees.

The environmentally-friendly products made by the Hisense Atlantis plant have been sold to more than 10 countries, including Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, Mauritius and Mozambique.

For the past three consecutive years, the market share of Hisense TV units was No.1 in South Africa.

After being briefed by the Hisense management, Davies said Hisense has become a very important part of unprecedented direct foreign investment in South Africa over the past three years.

This has greatly helped lift South Africa's strategic position in the fast-growing African consumer market, Davies said.

Accompanying the minister, General Manager of Hisense South Africa, Liu Bin said In the future, Hisense South Africa will integrate the export and supply chain and cooperate with local logistics companies to export products manufactured by Hisense South Africa to other countries.

In the near future, Hisense plans to establish a research and development center in South Africa as it strives to play a bigger role in the local manufacturing industry, Liu said.