Chine Everbright International sees opportunities along the Belt Road, leveraging on existing projects in Germany, Poland and Vietnam, and is investing heavily in research and development (R&D) with a new fully-operational platform in Nanjing.

Everbright International has been an active player in the environmental protection business. It is the first company in China to connect with environmental protection authorities through the internet and provide hourly disclosures of emissions, according to Wang Tianyi, CEO of China Everbright International.

Being a subsidiary of state-owned China Everbright Group, China Everbright International is based in Hong Kong and provides environmental protection services both in and outside of mainland China.

Last year, the company’s environmental energy, environmental water and green-tech projects generated a total revenue of HK$19 billion (approx. US$2.4 billion), recording an increase of 46% compared to the HK$13 billion in 2016. Most of the company’s revenues come from construction services (69%).

The profits from the environmental energy business account for 70% of the company’s total profits in 2017, according to Wang, noting that the Chinese environmental energy market shows strong potential.

With 54 new projects being implemented in 2017, the company has tapped into overseas markets including Germany, Poland and Vietnam. In 2016, the company entered Poland’s environmental protection market by acquiring a Poland waste management firm, NOVAGO. The company has also been involved in waste-to-energy projects in Vietnam.

“The project in Vietnam, the Can Tho Waste-to-Energy Project, is expected to complete construction and commence operation this year. It will become the country’s first modernized, high-standard household waste-to-energy project by then,” he says.

In February this year, Everbright International signed a loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) for US$100 million to facilitate the construction of household waste-to-energy projects in multiple cities in Vietnam.

The company will seek more chances in Southeast Asia and Central Europe, according to Wang. He explains that the company now has a basic grasp of the environmental protection markets of Vietnam and Poland and sees opportunities in exploring markets around these two countries. This is in line with China’s national project, the Belt Road initiative, which as broadly construed encourages debt financing and equity acquisition in infrastructure and related projects along the Eurasian landmass.

“As the Belt Road initiative develops, we also are seeing more opportunities overseas with the demand for garbage disposal in countries along the Belt Road,” says Wang.

The company still lags behind in terms of total assets and internationalization compared to other leading environmental protection players on a global scale. “Now the overseas business only takes 2% of the total revenue. We will speed up the process of overseas expansion,” he says.

One of the crucial aspects that the company takes into consideration in overseas investment is the risk. “We make efforts to reduce possible risks. We will evaluate the return on investment of every overseas investment project, making sure that the rate is not lower than that of domestic projects,” says Wang.

At the same time, the company makes efforts to improve its research and development (R&D) capabilities. The company’s R&D platform in Nanjing was fully put into use last year. With more than 300 researchers and about 400 patents, this enviro-tech complex operates as a center for R&D, design, technology management and international communications, according to Wang.

In January this year, Everbright International signed a cooperation agreement with China Aerospace Construction Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, China’s main contractor for space programmes.

“What attracted us is the high standard of design capabilities of China Aerospace Construction Group. We need it in our environmental protections business, such as the construction of industrial parks in and outside of China,” Wang explains.

Looking ahead, Wang says that Everbright International plans to become a leading player in the environmental protection industry globally in five to 10 years. “We will increase the investment in R&D from 2017’s 80 million yuan (approx. US$12.65 million) to at least one billion yuan over the next five to 10 years,” he adds.

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