Hanwha Group to ramp up drive for Chinese market

SEOUL, May 11 (Yonhap) -- Hanwha Group, a South Korean conglomerate, said Wednesday that it will establish a company to control its operations in China next month, as part of efforts to boost its presence in one of the world's fast-growing economies.
Hanwha Group China, scheduled to go into operations in Beijing on June 1, will be tasked with adjusting the group's businesses there and finding new growth engines, according to Hanwha.
The company has been venturing into the Chinese market over the past few years with its focus being currently placed on the solar energy-related sector.
Last August, Hanwha Chemical, one of the group's chemical units, took over Solarfun Power Holdings, a Chinese solar modules manufacture, and renamed the company "Hanwha SolarOne."
Hanwha SolarOne is planning to set up a solar cell and solar cell module production line with a production capacity of 2 gigawatts in Nantong, a city in China's Jiangsu Province.
Hanwha Group's operations in China generate over 2 trillion won (US$1.96 billion) in sales. The group aims to generate 10 trillion won in sales in China by 2020.
sam@yna.co.kr