Netafim CEO released a statement that the location for their first plant in China was chosen due to its low rainfall levels that has led to an increasing interest by local farmers to find innovative ways in water conservation.

By MICHELLE MALKA GROSSMAN

Drip irrigation and other water-saving technology will be getting a major boost in China, after Israeli drip irrigation leader Netafim opened its first production plant there on May 9. Netafim announced the inauguration of the plant in Yinchuan, the capital of the northwestern Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Stephan Titze, Eitan Neubauer, Israeli Ambassador to China Matan Vilnai and David Zeng, Managing Director for China at Netafim. – Photo: Courtesy

The company has invested over NIS 20 million in the plant, which has begun producing drip lines of various sizes and a number of types for the Chinese market. In addition, the site includes a training center and called the plant “the company’s initial base for investments in the region and in northwest China.”

Netafim CEO Ran Maidan called the plant “testimony to Netafim’s commitment to investing in China,” and said the country has “significant growth potential.

The company said in a statement that the area was chosen due to its low rainfall levels that has led to an increasing interest by local farmers to find ways of saving water.

According to the statement, the Chinese government policies “favor agricultural and water-saving irrigation technologies.”

A burgeoning wine industry in the Ningxia region was another incentive for Netafim to build its first Chinese plant there, since the company produces specialized irrigation and fertilizing systems.

Netafim has already collaborated with American winery Domain Chandon in setting up a vineyard in the region.

Netafim Asia-Pacific head and China chairman Stephan Titze said that the plant will be a “solid foundation” for future activities in the country as well.

However, a spokesman for the company told The Jerusalem Post that there are no plans to build more plants at the moment.

The process of bringing Netafim to China first began in 2014, when Chinese officials met with the company, both at their offices in China and in Israel at Kibbutz Hazerim. The 61-year-old company has 28 subsidiaries, 17 manufacturing plants and 4,300 employees worldwide in addition to the Yinchuan plant.

View original The Jerusalem Post publication at:
http://www.jpost.com/Business-and-Innovation/Environment/Israeli-drip-irrigation-giant-opens-first-Chinese-plant-454205