On January 27, the 2018 annual work meeting of China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina) was held in Beijing. The main task of the meeting was to thoroughly study and implement the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress, the Central Economic Work Meeting, and the meeting held by the heads of central enterprises. With the guidance of Xi Jinping’s socialism with Chinese characteristics in a new era, the meeting summarized the work in 2017, exchanged experiences, analyzed the current situation, and deployed the key work for 2018 and a period to come. Ren Jianxin, Chairman and Party Secretary of ChemChina, made an important speech at the meeting. Yang Xingqiang, General Manager and Deputy Party Secretary, delivered a work report.
Liu Shunda, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of State-owned Enterprises made an important speech at the meeting. Comrades of the 27th Office of the Supervisory Board of State-owned Enterprises and other relevant departments attended the meeting.
Ren Jianxin rendered an important speech titled “Build a World Class Enterprise with Global Competitiveness and Upgraded Quality of Development Driven by Innovation”. 2017 was a year for ChemChina to further promote the supply-side structural reform and create a new situation of international development. In response to the profound and complicated changes in international and domestic situations, ChemChina has fully implemented the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress, and implemented the decision-making arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. With the support of the Chinese government and the governments of relevant countries, and under the leadership of the SASAC and the supervision and guidance of the Supervisory Board of State-owned Enterprises, ChemChina has strengthened party leadership and deepened enterprise reform. Focusing on improving the quality and efficiency of development, the Group Company has made further efforts in making the corporation leaner and healthier, upgrading quality, and improving efficiency, and comprehensively promoted the collaboration and integration of enterprises both at home and abroad. Remarkable successes have been achieved in all our work.
Ren Jianxin reviewed a series of results in production and operation obtained by the Corporation in 2017. ChemChina’s operating revenue, EBITDA and profit were all substantially increased over the same period of last year, ranking No. 211 in Fortune Global 500 (having been among Fortune Global 500 for seven consecutive years), ranking third in the global chemical industry, and first in the domestic industry. With the M & A of Syngenta, the Corporation completed China’s largest “Going Global” project; Pirelli Passenger Tires was re-listed in Milan, which was the largest annual IPO in Europe, creating a miracle of value doubling over one year after ChemChina’s investment; Chinese and foreign enterprises stepped up efforts in integration and coordination, and the global regional distribution and strategic layout kept improving. The Corporation exerted the leading role of scientific and technological innovation as the first productive force. The number of patent applications increased by 24% y/y, that of ized patents increased by 75% y/y, and invention patents accounted for 61% of the effective patents, ranking the top among the central SOEs; the Corporation had 342 R & D institutions, including 166 institutions overseas, ranking the first among the central SOEs, and 176 institutions in China, ranking the third among central SOEs. In accordance with the requirements of “cutting overcapacity, reducing excess inventory, deleveraging, lowering costs, and strengthening areas of weakness”, the Corporation actively promoted the “treatment of zombie enterprises and enterprises in special difficulties”, and further reduced excess capacity. The ratio of the balance of “receivables and inventory” in the operating revenue, and three expenses decreased significantly y/y. Remarkable results were achieved in deleveraging, and the assets and liabilities ratio was further reduced. The three major international rating agencies, Fitch, S & P, and Moody’s, all gave a positive and stable rating; close attention was paid to reducing costs and increasing efficiency, and the economic and technical indicators of business operations were improved on an ongoing basis benchmarking advanced enterprises in the industry; the handling of problems left over from history and the separation of enterprises from society preceded smoothly.
In his report, Ren Jianxin mainly summarized the progress made by the Corporation in “studying party regulations, studying series of speeches, and becoming qualified party members” and party construction work. The ChemChina CPC Party Committee took the study, publicity and implementation of the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress as a top political priority for the present and a period to come. Study and training sessions of diverse forms and levels covering all people were conducted, and publicity work was conducted addressing international employees and overseas enterprise managements to spread the global new development concept of “building a community of shared futures”. The spirit of the national meeting on party construction of SOEs was implemented, institutional development was strengthened, and the rules of procedure of the CPC party committee were improved; cadres controlled by the CPC and the mechanism of talent selection and employment through market were combined; young cadres were assigned to work at grassroots units, excellent young cadres were elected, and persevering efforts were made to run the Central Party School ChemChina Middle-Aged and Young Cadre Training Program. “Two responsibilities” were strictly fulfilled, and efforts were made to comprehensively strengthen party discipline, strengthen supervision, disciplinary inspection, and thoroughly conduct self-examination and rectification, and further conduct inspection tours for rectification. Ideological and cultural publicity was strengthened, and typical examples in “practicing the five development concepts” were located and commended. Enterprises, by drawing on their expertise, actively promoted accurate poverty relief and reduction.
After the analysis of domestic, international, and industrial developments, Ren Jianxin, looking forward to 2018, proposed the ChemChina “333” development strategies, that is, accelerating the development of three industries including life science, material science, and environmental science, accelerating the implementation of three strategies including innovation drive, “digital chemical industry”, and sustainable development, and accelerating the three reforms in developing quality, efficiency and motive, thus turning ChemChina into a modern industrial group based on real economy, driven by scientific and technological innovation, supported by modern finance, and guaranteed by human resources, realizing the development goals in the “13th Five-Year Plan” in advance, and building a world class chemical industry corporation with global competitiveness as early as possible.
The key work of ChemChina in 2018 includes: accelerating internationalization, optimizing the three industry pattern of life science, material science, and environmental science; deepening corporate reform, and improving endogenous motive for development; accelerating quality improvement and efficiency increase, and upgrading the Corporation’s development quality; strengthening goal management, and comprehensively improving system efficacy; relying on innovative drive, and enhancing the motive for sustainable development; comprehensively strengthening party construction, and thoroughly studying and implementing the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress.
Ren Jianxin said that socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, and ChemChina has also started a new stage of development. This is a stage for ChemChina to make breakthroughs and comprehensively deepen reform, a transitional stage for starting “new science and new future”, an innovative stage for creating “digital chemical industry”, a leaping stage for building a world class corporation, and a stage of new journey for realizing the centennial corporation dream with endless innovation and entrepreneurship. On this basis, Ren Jianxin proposed the developmental positioning, developmental path, strategic support, and developmental goals of ChemChina in the new era.
Yang Xingqiang reviewed the progress made by ChemChina in production and operation, safety and environmental protection, structural adjustment, enterprise reform, “cutting overcapacity, reducing excess inventory, deleveraging, lowering costs, and strengthening areas of weakness”, technological innovation, in 2017, and made specific arrangements for the key tasks in 2018 in accordance with the requirements in Chairman Ren Jianxin’s speech. In 2018, ChemChina should optimize its capital and assets structure, and resolutely “deleverage”; continue to reduce management layers and the number of legal persons, and make breakthroughs in “treating zombie and destitute enterprises”; continue to digest, absorb and duplicate mature management modes and business modes of overseas enterprises; continue to optimize its marketing system, and keep promoting the construction of the E-commerce platform; strengthen assessment management, and develop a systematic efficacy target operational map covering the whole system; strengthen operation management, and build a modern enterprise supply chain; strengthen risk management, and realize full coverage of the comprehensive risk management system; strengthen the construction of a SHE system, fulfill the responsibilities for safety and environmental protection, and stick to sustainable development; driven by innovation, enhance the motive for sustainable development; supported by IT application, acceleration enterprise management innovation. The Corporation should strengthen its organization construction, provide human resources guarantee, accelerate the implementation of “the program of having 1,000 doctors”, and conduct exchanges and training of excellent young talents in enterprises at home and abroad.
Ten functional departments of the Corporation, the operation office, the personnel department, the finance department, the planning and development department, the business department, the supervision department, the management and information department, the science and technology department, the administrative office, and the enterprise planning department, released their relevant information. During the meeting, a TV film “Practicing the Development Ideas of Innovation, Coordination, Environmental Protection, Opening-up, and Sharing” was played.
The 8th Session of the First Employees’ Congress was held during the same period, in which 81 employees participated.
On January 28, member companies and units directly controlled by the Corporation held their annual work meetings respectively.
A total of 501 people participated in the meetings or attended the meetings as nonvoting members, including leaders of the Corporation, cadres above the level of deputy director assistant in headquarters departments, leaders of member companies and units controlled by the Corporation, and major principals of the departments, major principals of enterprises directly under the Corporation, and representatives of the Employees’ Congress.