China's CRRC Celebrates International Day of Cooperatives with Strengthened Ties and More Support for Australian Rail Industry

SYDNEY, July 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- One of the world's largest rail transportation equipment companies, China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC, 1766.HK), has recently released the 2019 Australian Corporate Social Responsibility Report. Highlighting the company's efforts to support local partners through deep integration, the report speaks to the results of these partnerships and commits to even further levels of cooperation into the future.

In the rail transit industry, international cooperation is imperative to ensuring the highest levels of safety, comfort and efficiency. Partnering with the Victorian Government, the CRRC has provided 65 new sets of seven-car HCMT trains that will enter service throughout 2020, beginning with the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines.

Throughout the whole domestic production of these trains, local partners and stakeholders were actively involved in the development process. In 2018, the Victorian Government invited a large number of these stakeholders and train drivers to inspect the vehicles and give feedback. From the over 2,500 pieces of relevant feedback received, more than 150 changes were made to final design, allowing the trains to now carry up to 20% more passengers than currently used models.

A major part of CRRC's commitment to cooperating with local industry players is through parts procurement, investment and employment. Over a number of years, CRRC has developed a reputation as being a locally-conscious international partner; this means including local manufacturing as an integral part of the supply chain. For the HCMT project, 60% of the spending was on local parts procurement, design, manufacturing and sourcing.

Also, for 2015 established subsidiary Pacific Railway Engineering Pty Ltd (PRE), over 50% of stock components and services are supplied by local Australian partners.

This cooperative focus is fundamental to CRRC's business vision as Chairman Liu Hualong notes in the report: "By actively engaging with our partners in Australia, we have been able to jointly build a community of shared interests. Our aim is to build long-term strategic partnerships with local companies and help their businesses go global by providing high-end products and services. We fully integrate in the industry supply chain to help local suppliers grow as well as promote the rail industry in Australia in general."

Local Australian giant and the world's largest mining company, BHP is one of CRRC's major local partnerships with over 20 years of cooperating together. The two specialized organizations' mutually beneficial relationship is in part due to their shared vision of connecting the world; for BHP this is connecting people and resources, for CRRC it is providing the infrastructure to allow greater mobility. The relationship in Australia has been marked by collaboration in R&D projects for long-life products, the filling of enormous and urgent requests (587 ore wagons delivered in 5 months) and a joint completion ceremony celebrating BHP's 4,000th ore wagon.

Adding to stories of local cooperation, in 2016 CRRC's SDA1 locomotive proved successful in managing 'devil's corner' for Australian rail freight partner Pacific National. The 8,500km stretch of land with 75% of the track reaching up to a 25% gradient and an s-bend curvature between Hawkesbury River and Cowan Bank in New South Wales, required a specialized high-power locomotive. The SDA1 is capable of towing more than 8,000 tonnes at a maximum speed of 120km/h and was later commended by Pacific National as providing high-quality and efficient delivery.

For more information about latest news of CRRC to work with its partners in Australia, please visit http://www.crrcgc.cc/en

About CRRC

CRRC (China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation) is one of the world's largest rail transportation equipment companies, with annual sales revenue of RMB 229.01 billion in 2019. The CRRC provides products and services to more than 100 countries and regions, and has established 15 international R&D centres. The CRRC has also set up local manufacturing bases in the US, Australia, South Africa, Malaysia, Turkey and India etc. By 2019, CRRC was ranked 359th in the list of Global Fortune 500 Companies.

SOURCE CRRC