[3] The company's founder and former chairman, Zhang Shiping, was ranked 27th on the 2017 Forbes China Rich List with a net worth of $4.8 billion.
[15] In 2018 China Hongqiao further increased its investment in environmental protection by with upgrading and renovating its electrolytic aluminium and alumina production process.
[19] As per the Certification, the company is mainly engaged in the research and development, production and sales of aluminum sheets, strips and foils.
[20] Over the years, China Hongqiao group has integrated sustainability, energy conservation and Green production into its overall strategy.
[21] In 2019 Hongqiao announced its plan to move around 2 million tonnes of its annual capacity from Shandong in eastern China to Yunnan to allow easier access to a cleaner power source than coal for the energy-intensive aluminium smelting process.
[22] Hongqiao's relocation of aluminium smelting capacity to Yunnan province is also part of China's bid to begin cutting back on carbon emissions by the end of the decade.
The company built an industrial chain with the construction of a river port wharf and sea transfer system.
Leveraging Yunnan's low hydro power tariff, we think CHQ's overall electricity costs advantages can be enhanced.
[41] According to a company's report in 2021, the Group accelerated construction of the Yunnan green aluminium innovation industrial park initiating partial production in September 2020, which will help the Group effectively reduce its carbon emissions and create a more eco-friendly production environment through more use of hydropower clean energy.
[42] In 2013, China Hongqiao Group and Indonesia's Khaleda Group, Weili Investment (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. jointly established Hongfa Weili Alumina Co., Ltd[43] with a joint investment of 1 billion U.S. dollars to build an annual output of 2 million tons of aluminium production in Indonesia's West Kalimantan Province.
[44] As part of a joint venture with PT Well Harvest Winning Alumina Refinery, China Hongqiao Group announced in December 2012 an investment of $1.5 billion for the creation of a company mining aluminium bauxite at Borneo with an expected annual production capacity of 2 million tonnes.
[46] Sun Xiushun, president of the shipping company Winning International Group and shareholder of the joint venture, explained that the treated alumina would mainly be used to meet the demand for raw materials from local Indonesian aluminium huts.
[49] In March 2015, the company confirmed that it had reached an agreement on various mining and port investments of US$120 million to promote the development and export of bauxite.
[15] According to Peter Thomas, vice president of Zaner Group LLC, a metal broker based in Chicago, this will lead to a 1% to 2% drop in aluminium prices.
Due to the high energy consumption, Hongqiao's Chinese production plants cause CO2 emissions of more than 100,000 kt per year.
[62] In 2016, Hongqiao was charged with operating unlicensed mills with a capacity of 2,000kt, as well as environmental fraud by ignoring Chinese emissions standards.
[63] After the Chinese Communist Party passed stricter environmental requirements, Hongqiao began to make the transition to renewable energies and stopped operating the smallest and most polluting electricity works.
[64] In addition to financial penalties, the company must also expect the closure of other sites because of "disregard for environmental protection permits before construction and operation of the plants".
At the same time, the construction of an aluminium hut with an annual production capacity of 1.32 million tonnes was stopped because no environmental impact assessment was carried out again.
[66] The State Commission for Development and Reform indicated that the electricity produced by Hongqiao contributes significantly to air pollution, since the environmental protection equipment of the factories was removed in order to reduce production costs.