On April 24, local time in Serbia, workers were in the steel workshop of Hegang. Photo by Li Chang
Hebei Daily reporter Wu Yanrong Gong Xianyun
On April 29, President Xi Jinping sent a letter to the Serbian employees of HBIS Smederevo Steel Plant, encouraging them to make new contributions to China-Serbia friendship. President Xi Jinping stressed that the sound development of the Smederevo steel mill is a vivid practice of China-Cyprus high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and a successful example of mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.
At the confluence of the Danube and Morava rivers lies the Serbian town of Smederevo, home to the 111-year-old Smederevo steel mill. In April 2016, HBIS Group acquired the smederevo steel mill that was on the verge of collapse and established HBIS Serbia Iron and Steel Company (hereinafter referred to as "HBIS Saigang"), gradually extricating the steel mill from the operational crisis.
Out of the cold winter of the century-old steel mill, the spring is just right and full of vitality.
"At present, the production and operation status and technical indicators of HBIS Saigang have reached the best since the establishment of the steel mill. Valadan Mikhailovich, Director of Operations of HBIS Saigang, said.
Why does HBIS build a high-quality landmark project of the Belt and Road Initiative into a high-quality enterprise on the verge of bankruptcy?
From April 23rd to 26th local time in Serbia, the reporter conducted an interview in Hegang Saigang and found the answer from the "three localizations" they have always adhered to.
Localization of benefits
——Empower steel mills with the ability to develop sustainably, and insist on using operating income for steel mill upgrading and transformation for 8 years
In the Hegang Sai Steel Plant area, the new and old sintering plants are only separated by one road.
The new sintering plant, the blue pipe volley flying frame, the white factory building is lined up, and the appearance is modern and fashionable. The old sintering plant, with its dilapidated plant and rusty equipment, is in stark contrast.
"The new sintering machine is a 'new bulk' added to the steel mill. Song Sihai, executive director of HBIS Saigang, said. He told us about the project when it started on July 24, 2019.
On this day, a special guest came to the construction site - Serbian President Vučić. Together with the Chinese ambassador to Serbia, he buried a "time capsule" with a brief overview of the project buried deep into the ground.
In his speech, Vučić said: "This renovation is of great significance to the residents of Smederevo and the surrounding villages, and more importantly, we hope that the children born in Smederevo will have a breath of fresh air and know that their future is secure." ”
Good hopes have become a vivid reality.
The new sintering plant will be put into operation in 2022, and the charge production capacity will be increased from 1.37 million tons per year in the past to 1.8 million tons, and the dust emission will be less than 15 mg/standard cubic meter, far better than the EU standard of 40 mg/standard cubic meter.
The "new large piece" of HBIS Saigang is not only this one.
Equipped with double heat storage technology, the walking beam type hot rolling heating furnace uses 100% blast furnace gas, saving 25 cubic meters of natural gas consumption per ton of steel.
The 80,000 cubic meter blast furnace gas cabinet was put into operation, which improved the stability of the blast furnace gas operation of the whole plant, and the gas discharge changed from 70,000 cubic meters per hour to "zero emission".
We will continue to increase investment in environmental protection, energy conservation and emission reduction, implement green and efficient production process transformation projects, and accelerate our growth into a pioneer in green development along the Belt and Road. In March 2023, HBIS Saigang's "Reducing Dust Pollution with Modern Technology" project won the "Green Agenda" award certificate jointly issued by the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme, and was the only Chinese-funded enterprise in Cyprus to receive this honor.
The "pride of Serbia" is back!
Founded in 1913, the Smederevo Steel Works contributed 40% of the city's revenues in its heyday and was known as the "Pride of Serbia". At the end of the last century, due to the fierce competition in the international market, coupled with management and other factors, the steel mill was in trouble, and many parties sought a way out. A foreign company took over the mill and was unable to turn it around, selling it back to the Serbian government for one dollar a few years later.
In April 2016, a new investor, HBIS Group, arrived.
At this time, the steel mill was basically in a state of semi-shutdown, and could the Chinese manage it well when they came? At that time, there were many doubts in the industry.
On June 19 of the same year, President Xi Jinping inspected Hegang Saigang. "We don't need to pat our chests and boast, but we need to fulfill our promises sincerely and seriously. Words must be believed, deeds must be fruitful. We must do what we promise, including introducing advanced technology, opening up a broader market, ensuring local employment, and benefiting people's livelihood. Valadan Mikhailovich said that the workers applauded President Xi Jinping's remarks.
Keep in mind the entrustment, live up to the mission, and must save the steel mill!
Restore the second blast furnace, increase crude steel production, and adjust the marketing plan...... Song Sihai recalled that at that time, the Chinese management team of nine people slept less than five hours a day, but they were still full of energy. In only half a year, HBIS Saigang turned losses into profits.
A series of targeted measures and "benefit localization" have given steel mills a new lease of life.
"What we are changing to this business is to empower it to be sustainable, to revitalize it, not to act in the short term. Yu Yong, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of HBIS Group, said.
Implement modernization. HBIS Group has renovated and upgraded the existing equipment of HBIS Saigang, and the operating income will be used for steel mills, including expansion and redevelopment, and re-improvement of production facilities.
Intensify technical inputs. HBIS has successively sent 20 technical and management professional teams and more than 260 experts to HBIS Saigang for many times to conduct doxxing professional diagnosis from the aspects of process, equipment and quality. Imported 26 industry-leading technologies with HBIS's independent intellectual property rights, and implemented more than 120 technical transformation projects, which significantly improved the technical level and sustainable development ability of steel mills.
Grafting to the global market. The group's global procurement platform - HBIS International (raw material international trade platform) was grafted to HBIS Saigang, and the world's largest steel trade and comprehensive service provider - HBIS JCDecaux was introduced into HBIS Saigang, and the products of steel mills were gradually expanded from the original Central and Eastern European markets to Western Europe, the United States, Latin America and other places.
Wang Lianxi, deputy general manager of HBIS Saigang, said that since 2016, steel mills have earned about 4.77 billion euros in exports, becoming the largest export enterprise in Serbia for many years. In 2023, steel mills contributed 795 million euros to the local output value, accounting for 1.15% of Serbia's GDP that year.
Localize people
-- More than 5,000 workers have kept their jobs, and on average, one out of every five people in the "steel town" is related to HBIS Saigang
At the beginning of the acquisition, HBIS Saigang had more than 5,000 Cypriot employees who needed to be resettled.
"Will there be layoffs?"
With a nervous mood, all the Cypriot workers are waiting to see what happens.
Eight years later, Ivan Matkovic is still very excited to recall the commitment of the Chinese management team.
In addition to the executive director, chief financial officer and chief technology officer, who are appointed by the Chinese management team, the more than 5,000 employees of HBIS Saigang are all retained employees of the original steel plant, and the senior executives and department heads are all locals.
Ivan Matkovich, production manager of HBIS's hot rolling mill, is a "third generation of steel", and his grandfather and father have worked in the steel mill all their lives.
Talking about the changes in his working environment in the past 8 years, he is like a treasure.
In the past, the console of the hot rolling central control room was equipped with operation buttons according to the rough rolling, finishing rolling, coiling and other units, which required manual operation according to the process flow.
Now, with the transformation and upgrading of intelligent facilities, the complex process flow has been transformed into a digital model, and the production status of the rolling mill can be controlled and viewed through the computer with a click of the mouse.
It's not just the equipment that's changing, it's also the state of the people.
Eight years ago, when workers got up every morning, they would habitually open the window to see if the big chimney of the steel mill was smoking.
Now, the focus of their communication has changed, focusing on sharing good and interesting things about what they have seen and heard, such as where new equipment has been installed, how much wages have risen, and who has traveled abroad.
The fears of the past are gone, and more than 5,000 employees have rebuilt their self-confidence and hope for the future.
HBIS Saigang has always regarded the training of local employees as one of the most important tasks. Since 2016, they have held 15 training sessions in China and 9 overseas training sessions for nearly 2,000 Cypriot employees, making a group of ordinary employees of HBIS Saigang quickly grow into business backbones.
Mitch, director of the scrap and secondary raw material procurement department of HBIS Saigang, is one of the beneficiaries. In September last year, Mickey went to China to participate in study and training, and learned a lot of new knowledge and skills.
Upon learning of the reporter's arrival, Mickey warmly invited us to his home.
Mitch will be dressed up in his new home in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. A car that I had purchased recently was parked in front of the door. On the lawn in the yard, there are leisure chairs, daughter's slides and other items. Color TVs, refrigerators and other electrical appliances are readily available in the house, and the intelligent sweeping robot is charging.
The construction process of this magnificent two-story building has been full of twists and turns.
Construction of Mickey's house began in 2004, because the steel mill lost money year after year, Mickey's income plummeted, and construction was halted until the first half of 2016. HBIS came, the income of the workers increased, the bank was willing to give loans, and the house was built in a few months.
A steel mill is a happy city. HBIS Saigang not only successfully saved the jobs of more than 5,000 employees in the steel mill, but also revitalized the "steel town" of Smederevo.
"On average, 1 in 5 people in Smederevo work related to HBIS Saigang, and the arrival of HBIS has greatly reduced the unemployment rate in the city. Said the former mayor of the city of Smederevo, Yasna Avramovich.
Cultural localization
——Respect, communication and integration, so that Cypriot employees "like to work with Chinese"
At the entrance of the office building of Hegang Saigang, a "cute" wall calendar attracted the attention of reporters.
The pictures on each month are the paintings of the children of the workers of HBIS Saigang. Blue sky, white clouds, green space, trees, chimneys, blast furnaces, they painted the most beautiful river steel plug steel in their eyes. Some of the children's paintings are also marked with "thank you" in Chinese.
It is the tradition of the steel mill to invite school-age children from the workers' families to visit the steel mill and paint on the spot every year. After the arrival of the Chinese management team, this activity was retained, and 12 paintings were further selected to make wall calendars and distributed to employees, enhancing the sense of belonging and identity of employees and their families to the company.
On the morning of April 24, local time in Serbia, colleagues held a warm retirement ceremony for 65-year-old Dragutin Rajkovic.
Recalling his more than 40 years of working experience in the steel mill, he was so excited that he cried several times as the former deputy director of the refractory department. Chang Jinbao, general manager of HBIS Saigang, came to him and presented him with exquisite Chinese interior paintings, thanking him for his hard work for the steel mill.
It is a traditional practice in steel mills to hold retirement ceremonies for retired workers, and each time the Chinese management team actively assisted in the preparation and sent gifts to express their gratitude.
Adhering to the principle of "cultural localization", the Chinese management team of HBIS puts "respect" in the first place.
"People here generally don't work overtime and don't want to be disturbed outside of 8 hours of work", "Employees pay special attention to vacations, and the whole family goes out to travel every year", "Their information-based office process is relatively perfect, and they are used to using e-mail to process various documents"......
When it comes to "cultural localization", Wang Lianxi said a lot about the habits of the locals in one breath. The management team of HBIS Saigang fully respects the local customs and cultural habits, works in accordance with the local working hours, properly retains the original system and management model, and integrates into the local area in the shortest time.
The factory-run magazine was once closed due to poor corporate efficiency. After HBIS Group took over the steel mill, the Scypriot magazine "HBIS Saigang" published both electronic and paper versions to tell the stories of Cypriot employees, publicize the business philosophy of the Chinese management team, introduce Chinese history and culture, and build a bridge of communication between Chinese and Cypriot employees.
"I like to work with Chinese, and I see a bright future for HBIS Cyclic in your face, and there is no doubt that my life and my family will be better in the future," said Terfilo of HBIS Saigang's engineering department. ”
"Three localizations", so that HBIS Saigang, a big family covering more than 5,000 Chinese and Cypriot employees, from the day of its establishment, will support each other and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results for the future of the steel mill.
"I have two sons and a daughter, and I hope they will be able to work here in the future. Ivan Matkovic said.
"After Easter, I'm going to take my family to Greece. Mitch said.
The friendship between countries lies in the people-to-people relationship. The steel messenger on the "Belt and Road" brings stable jobs and a happy life to the local area. The iron-clad friendship between China and Cyprus continues to write a new chapter, and I believe that there will be many more beautiful stories like this in the future......
Reporter's Notes
Building a "Steel Bridge" of China-Cyprus Friendship
Wu Yanrong
At the 2023 "Belt and Road" Chinese Character of the Year Release Ceremony, the character "信" stood out among the 9 candidate Chinese characters and became the 2023 "Belt and Road" Chinese Character of the Year.
For HBIS people, the word "letter" has a profound meaning.
Recently, as a special correspondent of Hebei Daily, my colleagues and I set off for the second time to Smederevo, Serbia to interview HBIS Saigang. Along the way, I will sometimes think about what new changes will be made in today's HBIS Saigang after 6 years since the last interview?
In 2018, I went to HBIS for the first time to conduct an interview. At that time, only two years after HBIS Group acquired the smederevo steel mill on the verge of bankruptcy, the Chinese management team of nine people worked hard with Cypriot employees to lead the steel mill back to life, and more than 5,000 people kept their jobs.
After 6 years, I will visit HBIS Saigang again. After 4 days of interviews, we visited the new plant, new production line, new facilities, and a variety of green energy-saving equipment made people shine. Serbian employees, suppliers, local residents and government representatives all spoke highly of the green development of HBIS Saigang.
The most impressive thing about this interview is the butterfly change of 8-year-old HBIS Saigang to green, and the second is that stable work brings employees a peaceful and happy life.
The changes of HBIS Plug Steel include not only "new large items" such as new sintering machines and blast furnace gas recovery cabinets, but also intelligent upgrades of ironmaking, steelmaking and rolling production processes. "The main equipment of the steel mill was manufactured in the 70s of the 20th century, and it took us 8 years to optimize the production line. Song Sihai, executive director of HBIS Saigang, said.
In recent years, HBIS Saigang has won one honorary title after another: Serbia's best exporter in 2017, Serbia's top brand in 2018, and an important award in the field of social responsibility - Serbia's "Misa Anastasiević Award" in 2020...... They are particularly proud to have received the "Green Agenda" award certificate jointly issued by the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme, becoming the only Chinese-funded enterprise in Cyprus to receive this honor.
In the face of interviews with Chinese journalists, Cypriot employees were happy to share their happy lives. Bai Lina and her husband both work in the steel mill, they have four children, and it is the stable income of the steel mill that gives them the courage to have children; Boyana said that her children want to travel to Harbin, China, and arrange their next vacation as soon as possible; Dragutin Rajkovich, who retired this year, said that his family has four brothers and sisters, and the entire family of more than a dozen people work in the steel mill, and they are very satisfied with their current work and life......
With the deepening of the interview, I also have a deeper understanding of why HBIS insists on "three localizations".
The localization of interests, employment and culture provides a fundamental guarantee for the successful operation of HBIS Saigang.
HBIS Group operates and manages in accordance with the principle of "three localizations", and works closely with local enterprises with a win-win mentality, so that the Serbian people can feel the friendliness of HBIS and the determination to resolutely build HBIS into the local society, which has laid the foundation for HBIS to integrate into the local society.
HBIS Saigang has built a "steel bridge" connecting the friendship between China and Cyprus, and its successful practice provides a useful reference for promoting Chinese enterprises to better "go global" and actively integrate into the "Belt and Road".
On April 29, President Xi Jinping replied to the Serbian employees of Smederevo Steel Plant of HBIS Group, which not only greatly encouraged the employees of HBIS Saigang, but also made all HBIS employees feel proud and excited. On the new journey, more stories of "keeping words and doing deeds" will be staged on the banks of the Danube, so that the iron-clad friendship between China and Cyprus will shine with new brilliance in the new era.