The second phase of the intelligent forklift project supported by German Kion Group and the smart networked heavy truck project supported by Sinotruk started construction in Jinan, capital of Shandong province on Aug 17.

An opening ceremony was held integrating the offline main venue and online video forms.

Liu Jiayi, Party secretary of Shandong province, delivered a keynote speech at the ceremony. He said that the sudden COVID-19 pandemic has brought a huge impact to the world economy, but the long-term growth trend of China's economy has not changed.

Liu Jiayi, Party secretary of Shandong province, delivers a keynote speech at the ceremony for starting construction on Aug 17. [Photo/dzwww.com]

The construction of the projects will help boost economic development and also further expand the cooperation of the two sides.

The local government will make a more supportive business environment with high-quality services to attract more high-quality projects from Kion Group, Liu said.

Shandong Governor Li Ganjie said that the two smart projects supported by Kion Group and Sinotruk will further promote the upgrading of the manufacturing sector in Shandong province. He hoped that more cooperation with Kion Group will be made to achieve mutually beneficial development.

Shandong Governor Li Ganjie (M) delivers a speech at the ceremony for starting construction on Aug 17. [Photo/dzwww.com]

Gordon Lisk, CEO of German Kion Group, said via video connection that it will be of great significance for Kion to cooperate with Weichai Group and establish factories in Shandong province.

He added that he believes with the strong support of the local government, sound infrastructure, and human resources, the cooperation will achieve fruitful results.

Tan Xuguang (L), chairman of Weichai Power, and Gordon Lisk (R), CEO of Kion Group, sign an investment and cooperation agreement via video conference on Aug 17. [Photo/dzwww.com]

Tan Xuguang, chairman of Shandong Heavy Industry Group, Weichai Group, and China National Heavy Duty Truck Group (Sinotruk), gave an overview of the projects during the ceremony.

Tan and Lisk also signed an investment and cooperation agreement between Weichai Group and German Kion Group online.

German Kion Group is the world's leading provider of industrial forklifts and warehouse automation equipment. The forklift project in Jinan covers an area of 849 mu (56.6 hectares) and has a total planned investment of 5 billion yuan ($721.3 million).

It aims to build a research, development, and production base for high-end new energy forklifts, with an annual output of 100,000 units.