Details disclosed! The 35 billion yuan hydrogen production project in Jiuquan has been terminated due to being a "fake state-owned enterprise". China Guangtong Technology Co., Ltd. | Project | Hydrogen Production
On June 21st, a bidding announcement for the EPC general contracting of a 4GW photovoltaic off grid hydrogen production project in Gansu was released on the China Tendering and Bidding Public Service Platform. The document shows that the bidding entity is Zhongguangtong Technology Co., Ltd., and the project's funding source is self raised funds of 35 billion yuan.
The bidding was only a few days ago, and the project was terminated on June 26th due to a change in the procurement plan. According to media reports, after the equity penetration, Zhongguangtong Jiuquan is a sixth level subsidiary of the state-owned enterprise State Power Investment Group Co., Ltd. Shortly thereafter, State Grid Corporation of China issued a statement: "Zhongguangtong Technology Co., Ltd. is not a subsidiary of our group, and all its bidding and other activities, as well as the projects it publishes, are not related to our group."
According to the official announcement of the State owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, six companies starting with "Zhongguangtong" have been blacklisted in the "List of Counterfeit State Owned Enterprises Announced by Central Enterprises".
In response to this, the person in charge of the project at Zhongguangtong Jiuquan stated that after State Power Investment Corporation issued a statement, the company immediately made industrial and commercial changes and completely distanced itself from State Power Investment Corporation. "We have never discussed cooperation with the government under the name of a central enterprise, I have always said it is a private enterprise. As for whether our superiors are affiliated with State Power Investment Corporation, I am not aware."
On July 21st, the Suzhou District Government of Jiuquan City told a reporter from China Central Radio and Television that after verification and recognition by the District Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision, there were issues with the project's failure to strictly implement the system of requesting and reporting major matters and violating project regulations during the signing, filing, and bidding processes.
Suzhou District Party Secretary He Zhengjun told reporters that the bidding announcement was privately issued by the enterprise. Before issuing the announcement, it is necessary to complete the preliminary environmental impact assessment, planning, land, design and other procedures, and provide a feasibility report, but none of these have been done.
Visit: The government and enterprises have inspected the construction land of the project
The bidding announcement shows that the construction site of the project is located in Nanba Village, Yinda Town, Suzhou District, Jiuquan City. A member of the Nanba Village Committee recalled that more than a month ago, more than 20 people, including the Suzhou District Government, Town Government, and enterprises, drove three cars together to Nanba Village for inspection.
"I didn't receive any notice in advance. It was around 10 o'clock in the morning when the town leader asked me to lead the way to the north reservoir of the desert park. They stayed by the reservoir for about 40 minutes." After seeing the place, they said something like 'there is water', 'there is a power plant nearby', 'this is a good place', and then left. "
The village committee member introduced that the land belongs to Nanba Village, which has a large area and flat terrain. To the east is a thermal power plant, and to the west is a steel company, all of which are major electricity consumers. For the construction of photovoltaic power generation projects, this place has unique conditions.
Previously, the "4GW Photovoltaic Off grid Hydrogen Production Project Registration Certificate" could be found on the website of the Suzhou District Government in Jiuquan City. The registration certificate shows that the project is "self used and mainly used for hydrogen production".
Du Yafeng, the project leader of Zhongguangtong Jiuquan, stated that for this project, they and the government also conducted mutual inspections, ultimately determined cooperation, and signed a contract.
The investment cooperation agreement for the "off grid hydrogen production" project provided by the Suzhou District Government shows that on June 7th, the Suzhou District People's Government and Zhongguangtong Technology Co., Ltd. signed a cooperation agreement. The project aims to construct a "4GW photovoltaic off grid hydrogen production" project using barren mountains, slopes, Gobi and other land within the jurisdiction of Suzhou that complies with laws, regulations, and urban and rural planning. The estimated total investment is 35 billion yuan, including 20 billion yuan for photovoltaic power stations and 15 billion yuan for hydrogen production and energy storage.
The cooperation agreement also shows that if Party B has lawfully obtained the land use right and the commencement procedures, but has not started construction for 6 consecutive months and has not formed an investment of more than 20% of the total project investment for 12 months, Party A has the right to reclaim the land without compensation, and the attached objects on the ground will not be compensated.
Cooperation Agreement
Only 5 days after signing the cooperation agreement, Zhongguangtong Technology Co., Ltd. was established. According to Tianyancha, the company's address is located at Room 201, No. 36 Gongyuan Road, Suzhou District, Jiuquan City.
On July 20th, the reporter found during a visit that the address was actually from the Investment Planning Department of the Suzhou District Bureau of Industry and Information Technology. Regarding whether Zhongguangtong is working here, the on-site staff expressed that they are not sure and have not heard of it.
On July 21st, Ma Bin, Deputy Director of the Suzhou District Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, stated that in order to create a good environment for investment promotion, the government will indeed provide certain conveniences for enterprises within the scope permitted by laws and regulations. For example, temporarily provide its registered address.
The relevant staff of the Market Supervision Bureau of Suzhou District further explained, "When they find a new office address, there will definitely be a change in business administration, but the project has been terminated and the enterprise is no longer in Jiuquan."
District government: The project was not submitted to the higher authorities for review as required
Illegal filing
On June 30th, the government of Suzhou District in Jiuquan, Gansu Province issued a statement stating that "the project will be terminated, and relevant departments will be carefully investigated for any violations in the project filing and other stages, further standardizing the project review process.".
On July 21st, the Suzhou District Government provided the reporter with the "Notice on Investigation and Handling of Issues Related to the 4GW Off grid Hydrogen Production Project" (Subanfa [2023] No. 219), which pointed out that the existing problem is the failure to strictly implement the system of requesting and reporting major issues. According to the Regulations of the CPC on Requests for Instructions and Reports on Major Issues and relevant regulations, major construction projects should be reported to the superior in time before signing the contract. The Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government also explicitly require that "without the approval of the Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government, all counties, districts, and departments shall not sign project agreements involving new energy indicators with enterprises.". The district government signed a project cooperation framework agreement involving new energy indicators with enterprises without consulting and reporting to the municipal party committee and government, resulting in a lack of understanding and clarity of the project by the higher-level party committee, government, and relevant departments, leading to passive work.
The notice also stated that another issue is the violation of project filing regulations. According to the Notice of the National Energy Administration on Issuing the Management Measures for the Development and Construction of Photovoltaic Power Stations, centralized photovoltaic projects must be included in the annual development and construction plan project list of photovoltaic power stations prepared by the provincial energy regulatory department before development and construction can proceed.
Regarding this, staff members from the Administrative Approval Service Center of Jiuquan City and the Administrative Service Center of Suzhou District Government have stated that according to the Regulations on the Approval and Filing Management of Enterprise Investment Projects, photovoltaic projects belong to the category of filing projects, and the filing authority is clearly delegated to their respective counties and districts. If the city's indicators are occupied, it is necessary to obtain indicator allocation first. Subsequently, the reporter called the Jiuquan Energy Bureau and the New Energy Project Approval Department of the Gansu Provincial Development and Reform Commission, and the relevant staff confirmed the above statement.
On July 21st, Wang Quande, a member of the Party Group and Deputy Director of the Development and Reform Bureau of Suzhou District, said that the filing process for such projects is not complicated. Enterprises can provide basic information such as business licenses and project basic information, as well as sign commitment letters. In the process of project application and change, if the information is untrue and causes illegal or irregular activities, if the funds are not submitted on time, and the new energy consumption in the industrial policy does not meet the relevant national regulations, the other party shall bear all legal consequences, and the record will be revoked. "At present, the record file of Zhongguantong has become invalid."
He Zhengjun said that according to the relevant regulations of the Jiuquan Municipal Party Committee and Government, major projects involving new energy must be reviewed and approved by the Jiuquan New Energy Industry Leading Group before they can be filed. However, the relevant personnel did not follow this procedure due to a lack of understanding of the policy.
"This regulation has been discussed at the Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee, government meetings, and investment promotion meetings. Although arrangements and communication were made afterwards, no written document was formed for communication, resulting in inadequate communication.".
Regarding the question of whether the signing time of the cooperation agreement was too fast, Yan Bin stated that the agreement is only a framework agreement of intent and does not have exclusivity. In addition, the agreement stipulates that if the enterprise fails to fulfill the agreement, Party A has the right to terminate the agreement.
Does the enterprise privately issue a bidding announcement?
"The cultural and tourism investment promotion team has visited Yunnan for inspection, and their understanding of the situation comes more from the company's self introduction." He Zhengjun said that in the self introduction to the investment promotion team, the company claimed to be a subsidiary of State Grid Investment, with business covering rural revitalization and new energy sectors. It has also cooperated with government departments in Yunnan, Xinjiang and other regions on multiple projects and signed many similar agreements.
But Du Yafeng denied this claim. He said, "During our negotiations with the government, we used Zhongguangtong as a publicity tool and never used the name of a state-owned enterprise or a central enterprise to negotiate cooperation with the government. As for some equity changes made by the higher-level company, I am not aware. When I had a meeting with the government of Jiuquan City, many leaders asked us what kind of company we are, and I said it is a private enterprise with legal and compliant business procedures." Du Yafeng said, they only know that their company is Zhongguangtong New Energy Group, and it is unclear what kind of company it is.
In December 2022, the official WeChat account of Zhongguangtong Energy Co., Ltd. released a press release stating that the "Implementation Promotion Meeting for the Overall Plan of 1 million mu 40GW Photovoltaic Hydrogen Production and Energy Storage in Atush City" organized by Zhongguangtong Energy Co., Ltd. was successfully held.
The article also states that Zhongguangtong Energy Co., Ltd. is a wholly-owned enterprise under the direct leadership of the State Council of China, and its strong investment strength, resource and capital integration ability have formed a development path of using the photovoltaic energy industry to drive the global capital industry and establish a world-class "photovoltaic+hydrogen energy, energy storage" industry in the northwest. After more than 8 months, Zhongguangtong has successfully won the large-scale photovoltaic energy base project of 1 million mu and 40GW in Atush, Xinjiang. At present, the message has been deleted.
According to the report on the investigation and handling of issues related to the 4GW off grid hydrogen production project provided by the Suzhou District Government to reporters, on May 19, 2023, a group of cultural and tourism investment representatives visited Yunnan Zhongguangtong Technology Co., Ltd. From May 23 to June 14, Zhongguangtong Technology Co., Ltd. conducted multiple inspections in Suzhou and signed an intention cooperation agreement with the Suzhou District People's Government on June 7 for the "off grid hydrogen production" project.
The notice also stated that on June 12th, the company registered its wholly-owned subsidiary Zhongguangtong Technology Co., Ltd. with the district market supervision bureau. On June 13th, Yan Weiming, a staff member of Zhongguangtong Technology Co., Ltd., submitted two documents, a copy of the company's business license and an investment cooperation agreement for the "Off grid Hydrogen Production" project, to Ma Bin, the project contact person and deputy director of the District Bureau of Industry and Information Technology. Ma Bin submitted the project filing application on his behalf on the online approval and supervision platform of Gansu Provincial Government Network. Li Qian, the chief representative of the District Development and Reform Bureau's Government Affairs Hall, reported to the responsible leader Wang Quande and solicited opinions from Yan Bin, the deputy director of the Jiuquan New Energy Comprehensive Utilization Industrial Park Management Office, before handling the project filing for the company. On June 21st, Zhongguangtong Technology Co., Ltd. released the "EPC General Contracting Bidding Announcement for 4GW Photovoltaic Off grid Hydrogen Production Project" on the "China Tendering and Bidding Public Service Platform" without conducting project feasibility studies, completing preliminary procedures such as project planning, land use, and environmental impact assessment, and communicating with relevant departments.
Tender announcement
"The bidding announcement was privately issued by a company, and some of the data mentioned in the announcement was not communicated with us, which is not in line with common sense and procedures. If a bidding announcement is to be issued, it must be communicated with the government, provided that the preliminary environmental impact assessment, planning, land, design and other procedures are completed, and there is also a feasibility report." He Zhengjun said, "Based on post analysis, this company may want to raise funds through bidding and then withdraw the project, which is highly deceptive."
In Du Yafeng's view, a contract was signed with the government, which required construction to start within three months. This year, the construction scale should reach 20%. Therefore, when promoting this work, the speed will be a bit fast. After signing the framework agreement, obtaining the filing certificate, and confirming the land location, the investment funds are also in place, and the enterprise can issue an announcement. "This is a corporate behavior and has nothing to do with the government. We did not engage in any illegal activities. If we were to cheat money, projects, or resources, we would have been caught long ago."
"I once reminded the investment promotion team that you should try small projects worth 100000 or 200000 yuan first, and they didn't take them seriously." He Zhengjun said that after listening to the company's introduction and reviewing its past projects, the cultural and tourism investment promotion team felt that the company had certain strength, and the company repeatedly urged them to register. This project has strong professionalism, and people lack sufficient understanding of the project's professionalism and vigilance, so they become complacent.
He Zhengjun also said that this incident has had a negative impact on the development of the local new energy industry. While reflecting on the pain, it also brings experience and lessons, which will guide them to establish more complete and sound process mechanisms, as well as deeper exploration of the entire hydrogen energy industry chain in the future. After the incident, Suzhou District learned lessons from various aspects such as improving ideological awareness, strengthening investment project management, improving policy execution ability, enhancing risk prevention awareness, and carrying out style rectification actions. The district also concentrated on carrying out the "Great Rectification of Style" and promoting the "Three Grasps and Three Promotions" action to deepen and implement the activities. "We cannot give up just because of choking. Next, Suzhou District will continue to fully leverage its resource advantages and do a good job in attracting investment."
Rectifying fake central enterprises requires a comprehensive approach to addressing both the root cause and the root cause
According to data from Qichacha, based on "equity penetration", this Zhongguangtong Technology Company can cross seven levels: State Power Investment Group - China Electric Power Investment Co., Ltd. - State Power Investment Urban Construction Co., Ltd. - Guoyuan Weida Technology Co., Ltd. - Zhongguangtong New Energy Group Co., Ltd. - Zhongguangtong Technology Co., Ltd. - Zhongguangtong Technology Co., Ltd.
Zhongguangtong Jiuquan Company Enterprise Inspection Registration Information
On June 29th, State Power Investment Corporation of China issued a statement: "The recent EPC general contracting bidding for a 4GW photovoltaic off grid hydrogen production project was announced online, and the bidder, Zhongguangtong Technology Co., Ltd., is not a subsidiary of our group. All bidding and other activities and projects related to it are not related to our group."
According to the official announcement of the State owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, six companies starting with "Zhongguangtong" have been blacklisted in the "List of Counterfeit State Owned Enterprises Announced by Central Enterprises".
Six companies starting with "Zhongguangtong" have been blacklisted
In recent years, relevant departments have been cracking down on and disclosing the behavior of fake central enterprises, but it has been repeatedly banned. In October 2021, 26 central enterprises announced the list of 353 fake state-owned enterprises through official websites, WeChat official account and other channels. In September 2022, the website of the State owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council released the second batch of counterfeit central enterprises. Involving 528 enterprises. On April 26, 2023, the State owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council announced the third batch of counterfeit central enterprises. It is understood that there are nearly 300 fake central enterprises publicly announced this time.
Lawyer Han Shuai, a partner at Beijing Strategy Law Firm, said that the common practice of counterfeiting state-owned enterprises is to include the prefix "Guo" and "Zhong" in the company name. These enterprises submit forged materials to the market supervision department for registration and filing in the name of a subsidiary of a state-owned enterprise. However, the market supervision department only conducts formal review of the submitted materials when establishing the enterprise. As long as there are no apparent problems, registration is generally not denied. In the operation of enterprises, relevant departments generally do not conduct further reviews of their funding entities, making it difficult to identify them. How to distinguish can be judged from aspects such as whether an administrative order is established and whether there is a state-owned asset department representing the state to invest in the enterprise, but it is difficult for the general public to understand this information.
Han Shuai analyzed that the main reason why fake central enterprises continue to be banned is that the current formal review system is difficult to register fake central enterprises from the source. In addition, in the operation of enterprises, relevant departments rarely review the materials and contributions submitted during establishment. In addition, the benefits brought by fake central enterprise identities always make some people take risks.
Liu Junhai, a professor at the Law School of Renmin University of China and director of the Institute of Business Law, said that this phenomenon not only occurs in Gansu. In recent years, in many cases, some enterprises have borrowed the shell of central enterprises, often with seven to eight or more layers of equity penetration. Some local governments lack understanding of the "past and present" and real equity structure of fake central enterprises, and are deceived by these enterprises to obtain some preferential policies, tax policies, and other conveniences.
He said that from this incident, it shows that local governments are eager to attract investment, but it also brings a warning to some local governments. Attracting investment not only requires improving information transparency, but also strict crackdown by relevant departments on fake central enterprises that infringe on national interests and people's property through improper means, in order to achieve a comprehensive solution.
