UPM celebrates 20 years in China

UPM, the leading forest-bioindustry company, celebrates its 20 years of development in China this year, and will continue to provide sustainable solutions for the local market, the president of the company said at the China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai.

Jussi Pesonen, president and CEO, said the company has witnessed China's great achievements in the past two decades, and the Chinese market has shown its huge potential for the future.

"We made a commitment to support China's economic growth when we came here," he said. "We brought not only best technology, but also experience on the sustainable development, and we have received wide support from local governments and Chinese customers."

Based in Helsinki, UPM bought a majority stake in the Changshu paper mill in Jiangsu province in 1998. UPM has invested more than $2 billion in China over the last two decades, according to Pesonen.

He also said as China continues the transformation of its green economy, UPM will provide the most innovative and responsible forest solutions to support China's economy and sustainable development.

Sun Jin, deputy director of the Commerce department of Jiangsu province, said UPM has set up a great example of enterprise development in Jiangsu province and the city of Suzhou.

He said the company has brought not only advanced technology, but also the leading environmental concept and corporate culture, as well as been a model of a foreign investment project and China-Finland cooperation.

Sun said the provincial government has been paying a lot of attention to building a high-quality investment environment to attract more companies to Jiangsu.

Founded in 1996, UPM provide sustainable and safe solutions to the growing global consumption demand, from biochemicals to energy, from forest to paper and timber.

The UPM Changshu mill site is also home to UPM Raflatac's label stock factory, the Asian research and development center, and the APAC Supply Chain Center.