Serving the global lighting industry--GE's first quartz factory in China was completed in Wuxi

 Wuxi, China, June 28, 2005 – GE demonstrated its strong commitment to China's economic development and announced that its first quartz plant in China was completed in Wuxi New District, Jiangsu Province, China. The project has a total investment of more than $23 million. This is GE's third plant in Wuxi, serving the lighting industry in China and around the world, with furnaces and aftertreatment equipment for the manufacture of high purity, small diameter quartz tubing. All of the plant's technologies, facilities and equipment, including furnaces and dehydrogenators, are new and globally advanced, ensuring GE is able to produce high quality products while meeting safety and environmental requirements. Zhou Jing, China Manager of GE Quartz Group, said, “This is another major GE investment project in China. We will use the best quality quartz materials produced by industry best practices to meet the growing needs of local and global customers. The Asian quartz market is expected to grow rapidly – ​​reaching 30% per year. The completion of the new Wuxi plant will enable us to better meet the growing demand for GE materials from customers in China, Asia and around the world. The factory was officially unveiled on the same day. Mao Xiaoping, Mayor of Wuxi, and Zhu Xiaohong, deputy director of Wuxi New District Management Committee, Mary Rose Sylvester, President of GE Quartz Group, Jeff Davis, Vice President of Sales of GE Quartz Group, and GE Quartz Group China Manager Zhou Jing and other guests attended the opening ceremony of the new factory. World-class quartz tubing Wuxi's new plant draws on GE's technical expertise, state-of-the-art equipment and industry best practices to produce quartz tubing with low hydroxyl (OH) content and optimum dimensional tolerance control. With the latest process improvements, the pipe has higher purity, smaller tolerances and better surface quality, resulting in better optical consistency and longer life for the lamp produced, compared to the use of other competitors. Compared with quartz products, the operating parameters of the lamp are also more stable. At the same time, Xi Meiruo also pointed out that “through industry-leading technology, we can provide high-value solutions for our important global customers in China.” Safety and environmental leader The new Wuxi plant already has an enviable safety record of 800,000 people without accidents. The GE team from other factories in China also came to learn about the best way to improve workers' safety protection measures. At the same time, in order to meet China's strict emission standards for fluorine-containing wastewater, GE has built a state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plant. In addition to the new quartz plant, GE has two plants in Wuxi New District: GE Healthcare's plant for the production of ultrasonic diagnostic equipment and magnets for medical diagnostics; GE Infrastructure Group's facility for the production of water treatment chemicals. The GE Quartz business unit has six plants worldwide (four in the US, one in Germany and one in Japan). At the media meeting after the opening ceremony, Xi Meiruo answered the reporter's question about GE's choice to establish a factory in Wuxi, but did not choose to be in Donghai County, Lianyungang (China Crystal Township). First, the investment conditions provided by the Wuxi Municipal Government are the best, and it is also convenient to cooperate with GE's other two factories in Wuxi. In addition, the raw material of this newly established quartz factory comes from the United States! (Text: Zheng Yaqin 2005-6-30 China Lighting Network)