Eight years after its launch, production at the Beijing Auto Industrial Corporation (BAIC) plant in Nelson Mandela Bay is in motion.
Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane made the announcement on Tuesday on the sidelines of a meeting with a delegation from China, led by Zhejiang province vice-governor Lu Shan.
The R11bn project is a joint venture between BAIC and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and was launched in 2016.
At the time, it was touted as a game-changing investment.
In his welcoming statement on Tuesday, Mabuyane attributed the presence of two Chinese vehicle-manufacturing companies — BAIC and FAW — in the Coega Industrial Zone to the existing twinning agreement between the provinces.
On the sidelines of the meeting, he said: “There is development around BAIC. Today, the IDC, Coega [Development Corporation] and BAIC management are meeting. I am reliably informed that they are beginning to start production in that plant so there will be an official announcement that will be made, particularly around BAIC.”
The construction of the plant faced significant delays due to various challenges, including work stoppages by SMMEs competing for contracts and the need to adapt to SA’s labour environment, policies and construction laws.
A vehicle to be assembled at the facility — an X25 compact SUV — was unveiled in 2018 at the plant located inside Coega’s special economic zone (SEZ).
The BAIC SA investment is one of 26 bilateral agreements signed between the two countries in 2015 with a total value of R94bn.
The facility’s initial production target of 50,000 vehicles a year, in the first phase, was expected to be ramped up to 100,000 when the plant was running at full capacity.
Jobs in the metro were expected to increase significantly as the various phases of the plant construction and operations progressed.
BAIC spokesperson Patience Dumisani said the plant had started production.
Dumisani said construction of the BAIC SA factory was completed in June 2023 with the three major processes of welding, painting and final assembly fully integrated.
“Starting from the first working day of the new year, BAIC SA fully launched the production of the Beijing X55 model,” Dumisani said.
In his opening remarks, Mabuyane said the province’s focus had shifted towards microeconomics, emphasising the revitalisation of factories and industrial parks.
“The Chinese are huge in industrial parks. We are opening up and revitalising Dimbaza, Fort Jackson [and] Vulindlela, but we need companies to come and operate in those parks. We’re also adding in agri-parks because we are huge in agriculture, citrus, deciduous [produce] and meat,” he said.
During the meeting, Lu said his province wanted to increase collaboration around farming, energy and trade. He said for sustainable co-operation in the areas of interest, both government and businesses needed to enhance their efforts.
“We will make efforts to have direct flights between China and SA at an early date and also work on our visa issues. Our focus will be on international travel, person-to-person contracts and e-commerce,” Lu said.
Mabuyane said the conversation around direct flights was topical for the province at the moment.
During his recent state of the province address, he said work was under way for the Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport to start receiving international flights.
However, the plan was still in its infant stages.
“We’ve got an international airport here that doesn’t land any international flights because of challenges and its capacity. We’re working around that and working with the UAE [United Arab Emirates] to develop the capacity of this effort.”
HeraldLIVE
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