Economic Observer Online
By Yan Kai (嚴凱)
Dec 7, 2012
Translated by Zhu Na
Original article: [Chinese]
Sany Group has settled on a plan to move key decision-making departments and hundreds of staff members to Beijing, but has decided, for now, to keep its key operating departments based in Changsha.
Liang Wengen (梁穩根), chairman of heavy machinery manufacturer Sany Group (三一集團) and one of China's richest individuals, discussed the decision to move the company's headquarters to Beijing at a large staff meeting at the company's Changsha headquarters on Dec 4.
The company plans to change the address at which both the Sany Group and its Shanghai-listed subsidiary Sany Heavy Industry Co Ltd are officially registered to a location in Beijing.
"The decision-making department of the headquarters, that is, company executives and office staff, will be relocated to Beijing, but the operating headquarters, that is, the various operating departments such as the finance department, won't move for now," an employee of the company told the Economic Observer.
The employee also revealed that this relocation won't involve many people, only several hundred of the compnay's 50,000 staff.
The source also told the EO that as most of those employed in the company's Changsha headquarters are from Hunan, the company will consider arranging new work responsibilities for them if they're not willing to move to the capital.
Earlier reports said that Mr. Liang announced in November that Sany's headquaters and all core business departments would be relocated to a site in Beijing's Changping District and that only the company's Pumping Division would remain in Changsha.
Since those initial reports, news about Sany's relocation plan has been widely reported with many media focusing on the role that fierce competition between Sany Group and Zoomlion (中聯重科) played in the company's decision.
Liang Wengen told journalists from Global Entrepreneur (環球企業家) that given the "unreasonable and malicious competition" from Zoomlion, Sany had no option but to relocate.
On Dec 1, Sany Heavy Industry issued a formal announcement via the Shanghai Stock Exchange saying that its decision to move its headquarters was not related to the investment environment in Hunan Province. According to the announcement, the main reason for moving to Beijing was so the company could avoid "malicious competition" (惡性競爭) and speed up its strategy of expanding its global business.
The company also said that the relocation will only involves a small number of departments and staff, the pumping division and truck cranes and other operating departments will not be moved. The announcement also stated that the number of people that the company employs in Hunan and the amount of taxes that the company pays locally would not be seriously affected by the move.
Links and Sources
Sina: Sany moving headquarters to Beijing, eyeing global strategy
Shanghai Stock Exchange: 三一重工：澄清公告
Global Entrepreneur: 梁穩根剖白三一遷都隱情：行蹤被監視會議被監聽
Wall Street Journal: Top Heavy Equipment Makers Really Don’t Like Each Other
