The Fiat Chairman, John Elkann, has met, at Lingotto,
Zhou Qiang, General Secretary of the Communist Party of
the Popular Republic of China in the Province of Hunan,
where an automotive manufacturing plant is under
construction for the 50/50 joint venture between Fiat
and Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC).
The official
visit is part of the framework of the industrial
initiative that Fiat Group and GAC have launched in the
Province of Hunan and that represents the most
significant automotive investment in the region. Hunan
is one of the largest provinces in central China, with
approximately 70 million inhabitants, and thanks to the
commitment of the political leadership is going through
a phase of strong development, centred on
infrastructures, transport and the auto industry.
During the
meetings, the programs and future projects of the Fiat-GAC
joint venture were illustrated to the representatives of
the Chinese delegation. This initiative is one element
in the development assistance plan that the Chinese
government has launched to encourage new investments in
the six provinces of central China.
The alliance
between Fiat and GAC for the production of cars and
engines in China is going ahead according to plan and
envisages the launch of the new platform for mid-range
cars in 2012. The production plant is located in the
city of Changsha, an important road and rail junction in
the heart of central-southern China, about 600
kilometres north of Guangzhou, to which it will soon be
connected by a high-speed rail link.
