China Hongqiao Group Limited (中国宏桥集团有限公司) is one of the world's largest producers of primary aluminium. Headquartered in Binzhou, Shandong Province, and registered in Hong Kong, the company rose from a textile background in the 1990s to surpass five million tonnes of smelting capacity within fifteen years. It is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and incorporated in the Cayman Islands. Since 2015 Hongqiao's output has generally ranked second globally, behind only Chalco.[1]
History
Shandong entrepreneur Zhang Shiping founded Shandong Hongqiao in 1994 as a denim manufacturer. Aluminium operations began in 2001, driven by low-cost on-shore credit and self-built coal-fired power. Annual capacity reached about 300,000 t by 2007. In March 2011 the group raised US$2.2 billion through a Hong Kong initial public offering, after which licensed capacity exceeded one million tonnes.[2] Expansion accelerated, and by 2016 the company could smelt more than five million tonnes a year.[3] Zhang Shiping died in 2019; control passed to his son Zhang Bo.