On the morning of September 2, Wartsila-YCMP medium-speed engine project went into production, injecting a strong impetus into Guangdong's marine engineering equipment manufacturing. With an area of 267,000 square meters, the project will primarily turn out Wartsila W20, W26 and W32 medium-speed diesel engines, with an annual output of 400 units. This means world top medium-speed marine diesel engines will be manufactured in Guangdong. Present were Jari Gustafsson, Finnish ambassador to China; He Ningka, deputy secretary of the CPC Zhuhai Municipal Committee and mayor of Zhuhai; Wang Qingli, vice mayor of Zhuhai; Gu Tangsheng, president of Yuchai Group and Bjorn Rosengren, CEO of Wartsila Group.

The project was established on December 20, 2012 and initiated on May 29, 2014. From project approval to construction and production, the project set a construction record in the industry. The project has the largest investment among the projects outside the headquarters base of Yuchai Group, and local leading offshore engineering enterprises such as Zhuhai Yuchai Marine Power Co., Ltd. (YCMP) are expected to drive regional industrial transformation and upgrading.

"We will go all out to build Yuchai Zhuhai Base into China's most advanced marine diesel engine manufacturing base," said Gu Tangsheng, president of Yuchai Group, adding that the production of the joint venture will be a milestone in Yuchai's development history. In the high-speed engine field, Yuchai has moved into the first camp of marine power brands; in the low-speed engine field, by cooperating with Wartsila Group in a wide range of fields such as technology, production and market, YCMP has successfully manufactured and delivered the first Wartsila W-X35 low-speed engine, achieving a breakthrough in the South China low-speed engine market. Besides, the world's first Wartsila W-X4 low-speed engine has rolled offline at YCMP and passed first-model certifications of major classification societies in the world. Now, Yuchai diesel engines have covered high, medium and low-speed power, thus forming the most complete spectrum of diesel engines in the country. Yuchai will unremittingly develop the marine power business, continue to intensify independent R & D and expand cooperation with international brands to further consolidate and extend Yuchai's lead in the marine power field.

Bjorn Rosengren, president and CEO of Wartsila Group, said, as the key country supplying new vessels, China plays a critical role in Wartsila's global growth strategy. The production of the Wartsila medium-speed engine plant is of great significance to the company's operations in China.

Wang Qingli, vice mayor of Zhuhai, said, the production of Wartsila Yuchai medium-speed engine project will inject a strong impetus into Zhuhai's equipment manufacturing, be conducive to Zhuhai's industrial restructuring, and promote Zhuhai to become a core city in the west coast of the Pearl River.

Sources said the project was constructed with a joint investment from YCMP and Wartsila. With an area of some 266,700 square meters, the new plant is committed to assembling and testing Wartsila 20, Wartsila 26 and Wartsila 32. Now some assembly lines and test benches have gone into production and the plant is expected to go into full production by late 2016. Wartsila established Wartsila Yuchai Engine Co., Ltd. with YCPM, a subsidiary of Guangxi Yuchai Machinery Group Co., Ltd., in May 2013. Wartsila invested some 17 million euros in the joint venture, holding a 50% stake, equal to Yuchai. Under the cooperative agreement, the two sides will invest in the medium-speed marine diesel engine project at Zhuhai Fushan Industrial Park with the aim of building Wartsila-Yuchai Zhuhai Base into a world top engine manufacturing base. The project will use world top technologies to manufacture Wartsila W20, W26 and W32 medium-speed engines with a power range of 800kW to 10,000kW, which will be applied on marine engineering vessels, offshore and ocean going vessels, and special vessels as scarce mariner power series in China.

(YCMP)