17.09.2010 CHINESE DELEGATION FROM HUNAN PROVINCE VISITS TURIN

ZHOU QIANG

Fiat Chairman John Elkann has met at Lingotto Zhou Qiang (above) the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Province of Hunan where the joint venture between Fiat and Guangzhou Automobile Group is taking shape. Photo: China Daily.

The Fiat Chairman, John Elkann, has met, at Lingotto, Zhou Qiang, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Popular Republic of China in the Province of Hunan, where an automotive manufacturing plant is under construction for the 50/50 joint venture between Fiat and Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC).

The official visit is part of the framework of the industrial initiative that Fiat Group and GAC have launched in the Province of Hunan and that represents the most significant automotive investment in the region. Hunan is one of the largest provinces in central China, with approximately 70 million inhabitants, and thanks to the commitment of the political leadership is going through a phase of strong development, centred on infrastructures, transport and the auto industry.

During the meetings, the programs and future projects of the Fiat-GAC joint venture were illustrated to the representatives of the Chinese delegation. This initiative is one element in the development assistance plan that the Chinese government has launched to encourage new investments in the six provinces of central China.

The alliance between Fiat and GAC for the production of cars and engines in China is going ahead according to plan and envisages the launch of the new platform for mid-range cars in 2012. The production plant is located in the city of Changsha, an important road and rail junction in the heart of central-southern China, about 600 kilometres north of Guangzhou, to which it will soon be connected by a high-speed rail link.
 

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