Beijing, China--The Cummins Engine
Company displayed its advanced natural gas and environmentally friendly diesel engines at
the recent 1999 Beijing International Symposium and Exhibition of Environment-Friendly
Auto Technology and Products, with the theme "creating a clean and fresh
future." Transit buses equipped with the two types of engines are now operating in
the Chinese cities of Beijing and Shenzhen.
The Beijing Bus Corporation operates 300 environmentally
friendly transit buses on the Second Ring Road and the Chang'an Boulevard, powered by
Cummins natural gas engines. Natural gas engines also will be installed in another 500 of
Beijing's buses over the next few months.
According to a company spokesman, Cummins and its Chinese
partners have set environmental protection records in China.
The Beijing bus company was the first in China to use
natural gas engines. In November 1999, the city of Shenzhen introduced 50 Cummins diesel
buses with lowered emissions output. Cummins also plans to establish its sixth technology
center in China, in addition to facilities in the United States, Brazil, India, Britain,
and Japan. The projected center will engage in localizing Cummins engine technologies and
products.
Cummins began its partnership in China in 1975, when
then-board Chairman Irwin Miller visited the country for the first time. In 1979, Cummins
opened its first Chinese office, in Beijing.
Since 1981, when the U.S. company entered into its first
cooperative venture with the China National Heavy Duty Truck Corporation, Cummins has
established cooperative relations with seven Chinese factories, which are producing eight
of the 14 types of Cummins engines in accordance with Cummins quality standards.
Cummins' investment in China currently exceeds $130
million. As one of the largest foreign investors in China's engine sector, Cummins has
launched 15 joint ventures, wholly owned companies, and representative offices in the
country, as well as several cooperative manufacturing plants. Meanwhile, it has opened
five regional service centers and approved more than 70 local concessionaires.
In another urban bus-related development, the Japanese
automaker Isuzu Motors has made an agreement with the Guangzhou Automobile Group to set up
a joint venture in southern China, to manufacture and sell medium-size and large buses.
Total Japanese investment in the project is expected to be
in the range of $30 million. Isuzu will have a 49 percent holding in the company, while
Guangzhou Automobile will have a 51 percent stake, company officials said.
An Isuzu official said the joint venture, Guangzhou Isuzu
Bus Co., is expected to make 100 city and sightseeing buses this year and will aim to
produce 1,000 buses annually by 2005.
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