Cummins gives thumbs-up to WEDZ's business environment

Cummins East Asia Research and Development Center in Wuhan Economic & Technological Development Zone. [Photo/WeChat account: whkfq] 

Cummins marked its 50th anniversary in China with a celebratory event on March 25 at the Cummins East Asia Research and Development Center in Wuhan Economic & Technological Development Zone (WEDZ). 

The company unveiled 50 initiatives focused on its zero-carbon strategy, covering R&D, technological innovation, production operations decarbonization, and community collaboration. 

As a Fortune Global 500 company and a leading global power technology provider headquartered in the United States, Cummins established its presence in WEDZ in 2005 with Dongfeng Motor Corporation by founding the Cummins East Asia R&D Center, China's first joint venture diesel engine R&D institution.

Since then, Cummins has made successive investments in the zone, including establishing the Cummins Fuel Systems Wuhan Plant and the Cummins Power Generation Wuhan Plant. These investments have developed a comprehensive value chain operation system encompassing technical R&D, high-end manufacturing, and distribution services.

Cummins Fuel Systems (Wuhan) Co, founded in 2007 in WEDZ, is one of Cummins' five major global fuel system production bases and its first integrated production, R&D, and sales fuel system solution provider outside its headquarters.

Cummins Power Generation, established in the zone in 2009, is one of the company's five global standard power production bases. The company has expanded its product power range over the past 15 years, developing products more aligned with market needs and increasing its revenue nearly 20-fold, with annual output value rising from $20 million to $400 million. 

Cummins invested an additional $150 million in 2019 to build a new base for the East Asia R&D Center in the zone. This investment aims to enhance its full line of powertrain solution R&D capabilities, meet diverse technological upgrade demands, and achieve breakthroughs in zero-carbon power solution R&D. 

Cummins also inaugurated its Wuhan Hydrogen Energy Engineering Center in 2021. By November 2022, the new base of the R&D center was operational, featuring a new energy R&D building equipped with the latest fuel cell and power battery laboratories. In 2023, the Cummins Emission Solutions Wuhan Technology Center was established.

Nathan Stoner, vice-president of Cummins and chairman of Cummins China, emphasized the company's ongoing commitment to increasing R&D investment in China, introducing more innovative products tailored to the unique needs of the Chinese market, and continuously expanding green energy solutions.