EDP :Chinese Companies are Long-Term Trustworthy Cooperation Partners
By Feng
Xuejun, Zheng Bin
Energias
de Portugal (EDP), an integrated generator, supplier and distributor of
electricity in Portugal, has regained vitality after choosing China Three
Gorges Corporation as a long-term cooperation partner.
Parque
Eoloco de Bairro wind farm, the power plant co-operated by EDP and China Three
Gorges, is capable of now generating a capacity of 65,000 megawatts each year.
Situated over 130 kilometers north to Lisbon, Capital of Portugal, the farm has
11 windmills standing on the mountain ridge.
As one
of Europe's major electricity operators, EDP contributes nearly 10 percent to Portugal’s
GDP each year. Due to the impact of European debt crisis, EDP encountered
operational difficulties.
During
the debt crisis, Chinese companies showed their firm confidence in Portugal’s
economic prospects and engaged into local economic construction with concrete
actions, said Manuel Cabral, former Economic Minister, expressing Portugal’s
gratitude to China.
Facts
have proved that Chinese companies are trustworthy long-term cooperation
partners, he added.
In their
cooperation over the past years, China Three Gorges and EDP launched a series
of power projects in Portuguese-speaking countries and also contracted upgrade
projects of smart grid systems in many Chinese cities.
Due to
the cooperation, EDP has resumed its financing environment to a pre-crisis
level and brought its share price to a record high in a decade. Its corporate
credit rating has also been upgraded to a stable outlook.
The
company’s net profit also hit its highest record reaching 1.113 billion euros
in 2017 from the outbreak of the sovereign debt crisis.
The
partnership also made EDP one of the leading companies in Southern Europe that
restored financial stability by issuing corporate bonds.
“Thanks
to Chinese company for keeping us in Portugal,” Antonio Mexia, CEO of EDP, told
the People’s Daily, explaining that several major energy corporations from
Germany, France, Spain and Brazil proposed cooperation intentions when EDP
decided to sell part of its stocks, but they chose the Chinese partner out of a
string of concerns.
European
corporations desire to split or restructure the companies they acquire, or quit
local market out of considerations on short-run investment returns, he added,
saying that Portuguese corporations suffered a similar painful lesson before.
Chinese companies
meet the development appeals of EDP better with a more far-sighted strategic
vision, which give more priority to industrial investment and layout in the
long run, Mexia explained the reasons on their final choice.
Wu
Shengliang, Executive Vice President of China Three Gorges
International and President of the Chinese firm’s European branch, said that though
EDP was trapped in trouble by European debt crisis, there is no trouble with
its power technologies or company management.
The
cooperation didn’t lead to a split of the Portuguese partner nor a change of
management team, which won the supports of EDP, added Wu.
The
cooperation between Portugal and China is promising due to a natural
complementarity between the two countries, Mexia stressed, adding that
trust serves as the footstone for long-lasting cooperation between Portuguese
and Chinese firms.
But such
trust needs to be testified by times rather than being accomplished at one
kick, he added, bilateral trust is like wine--the older the better.
Pic:
The photo shows a set of electric generator of Parque Eoloco de Bairro wind
farm, a power plant co-constructed by Energias
de Portugal (EDP) and China Three Gorges in Portugal. (Photo by Feng Xuejun
from People’s Daily)
Source: People's Daily
EDP :Chinese Companies are Long-Term Trustworthy Cooperation Partners
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