September 21, 2000 Cheng Shin Rubber Ind. Co., Ltd., a leading Taiwan tire maker for automobiles, bicycles and other vehicles, is expanding three of its mainland China factories, located in Shanghai, Tianjin, and Xiamen of Fujian province. The company is also seeking a location in Shanghai to establish a large car tire-testing center. However, the company declined to predict when it would begin construction of the testing center. "We still have to estimate the political environment in that area, as well as relevant business regulations," said a spokesperson for Cheng Shin. Hwa Fong Rubber Industries, another leading Taiwan tire maker of industrial, bicycle and motorcycle tires, plans to expand its mainland factory in Changshu of Jiangsu province. The company’s Changshu factory currently has an annual production capacity of 10 million sets of tires (inner tire and outer tire) for bicycles, three million sets of tires for motorcycles and another one million sets of tires for heavy-class vehicles such as trucks, noted Tai Chen, a spokesperson for the company. Hwa Fong already has approximately 10 distributors in China, and plans to increase that number this year. "We are striving to build a marketing network all the way from the coastal area to the inner regions of mainland China," said Chen. "The number of distributors we can assemble depends on the pace of the progress," he added. (back to top) |