The Chinese company “Janfeng” made the second big investment in Kragujevac, where, after the factory for the production of parts for car interiors, it is also starting a factory for the production of car seats. “Janfeng Sitting” will employ about 500 workers, as many as are engaged in the “Janfeng Interior” plant, where production was started two years ago. Both Chinese factories were built by the Dutch company CTP, which has become one of the most important business partners of the city of Kragujevac. The factory for the production of car seats was built in just seven months, and it will be ceremoniously opened in a few weeks.
“Janfeng” is one of the largest manufacturers of auto parts for the global market. The Chinese company has 111 plants in 120 countries, employs more than 32,000 workers, and supplies automotive giants such as Mercedes and BMW with its products. The Chinese state is behind “Janfeng”, and the first factory of this company in Kragujevac was ceremoniously put into operation in November 2019 by President Aleksandar Vucic and Ambassador Chen Bo. The second factory, which was recently completed, will open on May 5th. More than 1,000 workers will be employed in both “Janfeng” plants in Kragujevac.
Chinese investments in the central city of Sumadija were launched two years ago, in cooperation with the Dutch CTP, which built both plants for the company “Janfeng”. CTP bought two plots with a total area of 11.1 hectares in the work zone “Phoenix”, at the entrance to Kragujevac from Corridor 10. The city earned about 4.2 million euros from the sale of construction land. CTP is a large logistics company that forms industrial parks and builds facilities for business partners on purpose-purchased plots. CTP has invested 37 million euros in the construction of “Janfeng’s” factories in Kragujevac. The total investment is twice as big, having in mind the funds that the Chinese company gave for equipping the plant with robotic machines.
The Chinese factories “Janfeng Interiors” and “Janfeng Sitting” operate within the duty-free zone “Sumadija”, which is managed by the public company of the same name, which was founded in March 2019 by the Administration for Free Zones of Serbia at the Ministry of Finance. “Sumadija” has 16.1 hectares of construction land within the working zone “Phoenix”, with the proviso that the business of this public company is not territorially limited. The duty-free zone “Sumadija”, which was opened precisely because of the Chinese company “Janfeng”, is the second free trade zone in Kragujevac, and the first, which covers as much as 176 hectares, was formed for the needs of “Fiat” and its subcontractors, Politika reports.
