State-controlled China Non-ferrous Engineering and Research Institute (ENFI) yesterday merged with China Metallurgical Construction Group Corp (MCC), one of the nation's key flagship enterprises in tapping resources.

Approved by the State Council and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), the coming together of the two state-owned companies will benefit both sides in the long term, said company officials.

The research institute, now a subsidiary of MCC, will be a major component of MCC's core competitiveness and will aid the nation's largest metallurgical construction firm in its overseas market expansion, which has already resulted in them working closely together on many of MCC's overseas projects in countries like Pakistan and Papua New Guinea.

"By absorbing ENFI, known as the country's most powerful research and development unit for non-ferrous metals, MCC will have a more balanced portfolio for our business operations, which have shown a biased focus on ferrous resources in the past," Yang Changheng, board chairman of MCC, told China Daily Tuesday before the merger ceremony in Beijing.

"The merger will also ensure ENFI easier access to business opportunities worldwide by making the most of MCC's overseas experience and resources," Yang added.

"We will now enjoy a wider stage for our global business growth," said Zhang Zhaoxiang, president of ENFI, echoing Yang's ambitious pledge to develop its new subsidiary into the largest world-class research body under MCC.

Shao Ning, vice-chairman of SASAC, said the merger is a major step in the process of restructuring state-owned assets, which aims at an optimized collation of existing resources.

"In some highly concentrated industries, the country is encouraging the teaming-up of large-sized State-owned enterprises with the separate research institutes, in a bid to rationalize the State-owned asset alignment," Shao told China Daily.

"But the merger primarily comes from the companies' free will," Shao added.

MCC has set itself a target to become one of the world's top 500 enterprises within the next five years.

Its revenues last year reached 53 billion yuan (US$6.4 billion), up 23 percent from 2003.

ENFI was established in 1953 and has undertaken more than 3000 engineering design projects in 20 industrial fields, such as nonferrous metal, construction, municipal and environment engineering, in both the domestic and overseas markets.

(China Daily July 13, 2005)