With the acquisition of the business of local manufacturer Taizhou Fuju Rubber Belt Manufacture Co., Ltd., ContiTech AG, Hanover, Germany, is purposefully continuing the expansion of its drive belt business in China. To date, the Chinese company, founded in 1993, has predominantly manufactured drive belts for the automotive replacement business and for industry in general. In the future, ContiTech will make use of a 33,000-square meter production complex just completed at the start of the year. It is being mostly fitted out with new machines and offers space for further expansion. The plant is located in Sanmen in Zhejiang province, south of Shanghai. ContiTech, a division of the international automotive supplier, tire manufacturer and industrial partner Continental, will be taking on a total of around 100 employees from Fuju.

"This acquisition enables us to achieve further above-average growth in China," says Heinz-Gerhard Wente, member of the Executive Board at Continental and head of the ContiTech division. "In a very short time frame, we are expanding our production capacities in China and strengthening our drive belt business unit." From spring 2014 on, ContiTech will be manufacturing mainly V-belts and V-ribbed belts for the automotive OEM market, the automotive aftermarket, and industry in general in Sanmen. The new plant is just 50 km away from the ContiTech plant in Ninghai, where belts for the automotive sector and for industry in general are manufactured. "The proximity of the two production sites creates synergies," adds Konrad Müller, head of the ContiTech Power Transmission Group business unit, noting another benefit of the acquisition. "Everything we produce at the new site will likewise be manufactured in strict accordance with ContiTech quality standards. In the future, we will be able to ensure our customers in China faster delivery of a wider range of products."

The acquisition was closed in mid-January. ContiTech operates more than ten plants in China and employs around 2,500.