KION has opened a new counterbalance truck plant in the Chinese city of Jinan in Shandong province, at the same time laying the foundation stone for an additional plant for supply chain solutions in the immediate vicinity that will house a technology centre and state-of-the-art manufacturing lines.

"These new facilities will help the KION Group to forge ahead with its growth strategy in China and expand its product portfolio in both operating segments in one of the world's most important and fastest-growing markets for materials handling equipment," says group CEO Gordon Riske.

The total investment for the two future-oriented plants, plus an R&D centre and a technology centre, comes to around EUR140 million (USD160 million). The group plans to create more than 1,000 new jobs in Jinan in the medium term.

"The new forklift truck plant in Jinan is a decisive step in our 'Growing in China' initiative. China offers so much growth potential for us," says CP Quek, member of the executive board of KION Group and responsible for the ITS business in the Asia Pacific and Americas regions. "According to the World Industrial Truck Statistics (WITS), it accounted for around 40% of the global market for industrial trucks in 2020 in terms of unit orders. China also remains one of the world's most important growth markets. We want to harness the potential of this important market even more effectively, and significantly expand our position as a leading intralogistics supplier in China."