New Hope Group

Printable pdf version: Profile-New Hope Group 2012.

Chinese Agribusiness Profiles: New Hope Group                                                          新希望集团有限公司                                                                                                            Prepared by Mindi Schneider                                                                                          November 2012

Company Vitals

Sichuan New Hope Group Co., Ltd. is a diversified, privately owned group based in Chengdu in Sichuan Province.  Company holdings are in four major divisions (see Table 1):

• Agribusiness and food
• Chemical industry and resources
• Real estate and infrastructure
• Finance and investment

New Hope Group (NHG) has over 80,000 employees and close to 500 subsidiaries that operate both in China and abroad.  The company initiated an overseas strategy in 1996 to expand its international market and increase profit growth points.  This plan continues today, and there are currently NHG projects in Vietnam, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Egypt.  This initiative is part of the “going global” development strategy promoted by China’s central government.  NHG has also formed joint ventures with state-owned, private, and overseas enterprises, and has strategic partnerships with international agencies and firms(see Table 2).

New Hope Liuhe Co., Ltd. (formerly Sichuan New Hope Agribusiness Co., Ltd.) is the list company of the New Hope Group. It was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on March 11, 1998 (Stock Code No. 000876.SZ).  In 2011, the company’s total assets were estimated at 21.7 billion RMB, with 71.6 billion RMB in annual sales, and profits of 2.6 billion RMB[1].

New Hope Liuhe operates primarily in the pig, poultry, and dairy value chains. The company has operations in feed production, animal breeding, livestock slaughter, meat and dairy processing, agricultural technology, and animal health.

• New Hope is China’s largest private agricultural firm, as well as the largest agricultural industry cluster.

• New Hope is the largest feed producer in China, with annual production capacity of 26.6 million tons.

• New Hope’s annual slaughter capacity is currently 8.5 million head for pigs, and 750 million head for poultry.

• New Hope Group currently has 8 companies that have been named Dragonhead Enterprises (leading industrial agriculture enterprises) by the Ministry of Agriculture, and 6 China Top Brands.

• New Hope has been included on the list of the Top 500 Enterprises of China for the past several years, occupying #65 in 2012.

• New Hope was the first feed business in China to pass ISO/9001-1994 international quality systems certification, and has continued to pass updated versions of the ISO/9001 series.

Company History

In 1982, less than five years after China opened the door for the operation of non-governmental businesses, Liu Yonghao (刘永好) and his three older brothers started what would become one of the first private enterprises in the country.  As the story goes, the brothers sold watches and bicycles to raise 1,000 RMB in order to start their quail and chicken breeding business in rural Sichuan Province.  By 1998, they had made 10 million RMB, which they reinvested to expand into the feed business.  The company continued to grow, and the brothers established New Hope Group in 1992 and restructured it in 1995 away from a family business model.  In 1996, New Hope Group was incorporated, with Liu Yonghao as President and Chairman of the Board.

New Hope is also the largest shareholder in China’s Minsheng Bank and Mingsheng Life Insurance Company. Liu Yonghao co-founded Minsheng as China’s first private financial institution with members of the National Political Consultative Conference in 1993.

Consolidation

In 2005, NHG acquired a 45% share in and Shandong Liuhe Group (山东六和集团), one of China’s largest feed and poultry producers[2]. On January 3, 2012, Sichuan New Hope Agribusiness Co., Ltd. changed its name to New Hope Liuhe Co. This move reflects the combining of listed and unlisted assets within the group[3], and further consolidation between New Hope and Liuhe. Both firms have joint-venture arrangements with Hypor Canada, an international leader in swine genetics[4] (see Table 2). The Marubeni Corporation of Japan has a minority stake in the Liuhe offshoot, Qingdao Tianrun feed company ( 青岛天润众和食品有限公司).

In January 2012, the same month as the company’s name change, New Hope and Marubeni signed a letter of intent to jointly expand feed operations in Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and South America[5].  This agreement brings together two up-and-coming East Asian agribusiness firms – China’s leading feed producer and Japan’s leading grain trader – and increases their global presence.

Company Leadership

In 2011, Mr. Liu Yonghao was listed as #4 on the Forbes list of China’s 400 Richest, and #330 on the World’s Billionaires list, with a personal fortune of $6.6 billion (USD). He has been named a “Top 10 Poverty Champion” and a “Top 10 Private Entrepreneur” in China.  He was listed in Business Week’s “2000 Stars of Asia”, and was awarded the “Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Award”.  Additionally, Mr. Liu Yonghao holds a number of positions:

• Chairman of the Board and President of Sichuan New Hope Group Co., Ltd.
• Vice Chairman of China Minsheng Banking Corp., Ltd.
• Chairman of New Hope Investment Co., Ltd.
• Chairman of Sichuan New Hope Agribusiness Co., Ltd.
• Chairman of Shandong Liuhe Group Co., Ltd.
• Supervisory Board of Minsheng Life Insurance Co., Ltd.
• Standing Member of CPPCC (Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference) National Committee
• Vice Chairman of CPPCC Economic Commission
• Vice Chairman of All China Federation of Industry and Commerce
• Vice President of China Association for Promotion of Glorious Cause
• Vice Chairman of China Feed Industry Association
• Vice President of China Dairy Association

Liu Yongxing (刘永行), one of the other brothers, went on to found his own feed and aluminum smelting company, East Hope Group.  He was named the richest man in China in 2008 with $3 billion in personal wealth. In 2011, Liu Yongxing was #3 on the Forbes China’s 400 richest list, and #173 on the global list of billionaires, with $6.8 billion in personal wealth.

Related News

In May 2010 China and the United States signed the largest import contract for transgenic corn in the last 10 years.  Under its terms, China will import 115,000 tons of GMO corn from the US.  New Hope Group is the buyer, and reports it will use the corn to manufacture pig feed[6].

New Hope Dairy has acquired 12 small- and medium- sized dairy companies in Anhui, Hebei, Jilin, and Shandong provinces in recent years.  They are poised to be a significant “second-tier” player in the consolidation of China’s dairy industry.

Table 1.  New Hope Group’s Family of Companies

*There are some 500 NHG subsidiaries.  This is a list of some of the major company holdings in each division.  Unless otherwise indicated, information is from the New Hope Group website (Chinese version).

Company	Business Operations	Links
Sichuan New Hope Group Co., Ltd.	The group has four major divisions: Agribusiness and food Chemical industry and resources Real estate and infrastructure Finance and investment	ChineseEnglish
New Hope Liuhe Co., Ltd.	Animal breeding, feed, planting, technology services, dairy, slaughtering and meat (pork and poultry) processing, aquaculture, veterinary medicine.	Reuters
New Hope Dairy Group Holdings, Ltd.	Founded in 2002, New Hope Dairy is the largest dairy operation in southwest China, with 11 dairy farms, 10 dairies, and over 100,000 head.  The company is involved in production, research, testing, and feed.	Baidu entry
Chengdu Huarong Chemical Co., Ltd.	Founded in collaboration with investment from the IFC in 2000.  Currently the largest potassium hydroxide production base in China, the largest producer of high-potassium hydrogen, and one of the largest manufacturers of phosphorus for animal feed in Asia.  Also produces PVC resin.Registered capital of $12.8 million.	Baidu entry
New Hope Real Estate Division	There are 13 member companies of this division, with real estate projects in Sichuan, Shanghai, Dalian, Hohhot, Kunming, Nanning, Shenyang, Wuhan, and other Chinese cities.
Sichuan New Hope Trading Company Co., Ltd.	Imports: whey powder, fishmeal, rapeseed meal, agricultural commodities from USA, India, & Peru; drilling rigs and drilling parts.Exports: feed additives, feed machine equipment.
New Hope Investment Co., Ltd.	New Hope Group is the largest shareholder of China Minsheng Banking Corp Ltd.  It is also the principle controlling shareholder in China Minsheng Life Insurance Company and the Lianhua (Union) International Trust & Investment Company.

Table 2.  New Hope Group: Select International Partnerships

*This list is not exhaustive, but records some of NHG’s major and more recent transactions.

Partner	Location	Relationship	Links
UN Global Compact	United Nations	New Hope Group is a compact participant.	Chinese companies
International Finance Corporation	World Bank Group, Wash-ington, DC (HQ)	In 2005 the IFC (the finance arm of the World Bank) invested $45 million in New Hope Capital, a holding company owned by New Hope Group (25%) and New Hope Agriculture (75%).  The IFC also has a $19.2 million exposure to Chengdu Huarong Chemicals, a New Hope sponsored company.	IFC-SPI
Mitsui & Co	Japan	In 2009, the two firms formed an alliance for joint procurement and sales of feed in China.	New Hope – Mitsui
Hypor (division of Hendrix genetics)	Canada	Hypor signed a joint venture agreement with New Hope and Shandong Liu He Group in 2006 for the production and distribution of breeding pigs in China.	Joint Venture, Hypor
Cherry Valley Livestock Division	England	New Hope and Cherry Valley cooperated to set up Grand Parental Breeding Company for duck breeding.	Cherry Valley
Sojitz Corporation	Japan	New Hope (90%) and Sojitz (10%) have a joint venture in New Hope Cambodia Ltd., a feed project initiated in 2010.	Joint Venture
Marubeni Corporation	Japan	New Hope and Marubeni signed a letter of intent to expand feed business in Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and South America.	Overseas Expansion

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[1] http://www.fortunechina.com/china500/289/2012/XIN-XI-WANG-LIU-HE-GU-FEN-YOU-XIAN-GONG-SI

[2] http://www.wattagnet.com/Animal_feed_manufacturers_build_bigger_presence.html.

[3] http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-07/27/content_11053744.htm

[4] Charlebois, S. (2008). Structural and social dimensions of an international joint venture: The case of Hypor Canada in China. Journal of Chinese Economic and Foreign Trade Studies, 1(1), 49-61.

[5] http://www.allaboutfeed.net/Process-Management/Management/2012/1/New-Hope-and-Marubeni-join-for-overseas-expansion-AAF012696W/

[6]http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/index2.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=36091&pop=1&page=0&Itemid=1

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