Photo: A local employee of Haier is working in the company's Russian factory.
BEIJING, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese home appliance giant Haier started operation of its laundry appliances plant in the 127-hectare Haier Russian Industrial Park located in the industrial city of Naberezhnye Chelny, Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, on August 28.
It has been the first Chinese-built intelligent manufacturing factory based on COSMOPlat platform in Europe, which is expected to serve 140 million users in Russia and further to reach 200 million users in Central Asia and Europe.
COSMOPlat is an industrial Internet platform built by Haier. Thanks to it, the average efficiency of the new plant is increased by 40 percent compared with traditional ones, and the labor force deployed in the whole process is reduced by 30 percent.
Over the years, Haier has accumulated rich management and operation experience in Russia. Haier put into operation of its Russian refrigerator factory in Naberezhnye Chelny in 2016, which is the sister factory of the newly-launched laundry appliances plant. In 2018, the sales value of refrigerators produced by this factory exceeded 100 million U.S. dollars. As of the second quarter of 2019, the factory rolled off 500,000 refrigerators, helping Haier gaining 48 percent of share in Russia's high-end multi-door refrigerator market.
The successful operation of Haier in Russia has brought plenty of opportunities for local development. So far, Haier's refrigerator factory has directly offered job opportunities for more than 800 people, which has effectively boosted local production capability and employment.
Moreover, Haier has also been actively promoting localized procurement in Russia. 23 local enterprises have become Haier's suppliers. The proportion of refrigerator parts purchased from local suppliers is expected to reach 70 percent by the end of 2019.
Haier is not only the first Chinese enterprise to be introduced in the Republic of Tatarstan, but also one of the most appraised by local government, as the Tatarstan Investment Development Agency has awarded Haier's Russian refrigerator factory a honorary certificate for its remarkable contribution to the local economic development and investment activities. (Edited by Li Wenxin, liwenxin@xinhua.org)
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