on january 17, china national bluestar (group) co., ltd. held the 2019 work conference in beijing. the main tasks of the meeting are to put in place the guidelines of chemchina’s work conference, summarize the 2018 work, analyze the domestic and international situation, and arrange the main tasks in 2019. hao zhigang, party secretary and chairman of bluestar company, delivered a keynote speech titled “apply realistic and pragmatic approach to practice ten major actions and advance high-quality development of bluestar company.” michael koenig, bluestar’s ceo, made the annual work report.
mr. hao zhigang summed up achievements made in 2018. confronted with the market opportunities and challenges, bluestar, with the support of chemchina’s leaders, has attached much importance to the quality and benefits of enterprise development, focused on adjusting the asset’s capital structure, strengthened management and control in safety and environmental protection, expanded the market, and sped up downsizing and streamlining. by doing so, it has further optimized the global strategic layout, improved its development quality, further demonstrated the effectiveness of its management, and enhanced the quality of party building.
chairman hao analyzed the situation faced by bluestar. china’s economy is at the historical juncture of the global new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation and its transformation of the development model. the chemical industry has shown a trend of agglomeration and high-end development. bluestar has followed the situation, focused on new materials and specialty chemicals, and developed three major business sectors of materials, life, and environment. however, when benchmarking itself against advanced enterprises of the industry, bluestar has lagged behind the leading enterprises in the proportions of new materials and specialty chemicals, the overall profitability, and technological innovation capability. bluestar needs to adopt various measures simultaneously to shift the traditional development model of pursuing scale and investment to the new model of seeking innovation-driven green development of quality and efficiency, developing the management and control model suitable for internationalization. it also needs to speed up the transformation towards a science-oriented high-tech enterprise, so as to overtake industrial counterparts in the scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation.
chairman hao zhigang arranged key work in 2019. bluestar needs to adapt to chemchina’s strategic tasks in the new era, learn the lessons from the “11.28” accident, implement the requirements of chemchina’s safety management and rectification year, and adjust bluestar’s new strategic positioning in a pragmatic spirit. it also needs to set up the goal of putting science first, carry out the ten actions proposed by chairman ning gaoning of chemchina, and firmly advance the innovation-driven high-quality development of bluestar. we need to focus on the five tasks of “safety, planning, management, innovation, and party building” under the 6s management system. first, we need to make solid progress in safety and environmental protection. we need to reflect deeply to change our work style, carry out safety actions and environmental clean-up campaigns, and establish a long-term mechanism for risk management. second, we need to set a new strategic position, speed up the adjustment of industrial structure, and build a comprehensive management system of strategic management, comprehensive budget, reporting management, internal audit, performance evaluation, and manager evaluation. third, we need to systematically improve the level of internal control, optimize the management model of headquarters for overseas enterprises, implement comprehensive asset management, resolve financial risks, strengthen production and operation management, improve performance management, and perfect the risk prevention and control system. fourth, we need to strive to enhance the ability of technological innovation, define innovative ideas and plans, facilitate the construction of digital factories, and form a technological innovation system with the synergistic efforts of innovation subjects, methods, and culture. fifth, we need to strengthen the party leadership in deepening the reform for enterprises and advancing bluestar’s transformation, upgrading, innovation, and development.
in his work report, ceo koenig focused on bluestar’s safety work, analyzed the current situation and existing problems of hse, proposed to integrate hse systems of domestic and overseas enterprises, and worked to strengthen process safety and environmental protection. he also summarized the highlights of bluestar’s work in 2018, presenting an excellent performance of silicone and engineering plastics divisions, a successful listing of elkem to facilitate the integration of global business, adisseo’s acquisition of nutriad company to strengthen special products, and rec solar’s strategic adjustments. all these achievements have upgraded bluestar’s divisions. by analyzing main operating data, he expounded bluestar’s advantages and disadvantages, pointing out that, as the future development should ensure growth and profitability, we need to speed up the pace of reform, focus on innovation and efficiency, and better meet challenges in 2019. he put forward the next-step key measures: to speed up the disposal of non-core assets, reduce funds occupied by account receivables and inventories, lower the debt ratio, continue to strengthen centralized procurement, expand strategic customers, promote digital marketing and e-commerce, enhance the level of technological innovation, and achieve bluestar’s organic growth.
at the meeting, all functional departments of bluestar's headquarters briefed on their work, summarized their respective key work in 2018, worked out their work plans in 2019, and clarified their work ideas and measures. the meeting specially arranged two special reports regarding the development of the industry and the performance of nantong xingchen’s operation, which has played a positive role in the strategic planning of enterprises and the improvement of quality and efficiency. according to chairman ning gaoning’s “ten actions,” attendees took an active part in group discussions on “essential safety,” “scientific and technological innovation,” and “operational performance” to offer suggestions.
the meeting brought together 132 persons, including members of the board of directors, members of the leadership team, principal leaders of various affiliated enterprises, and all the staff members of the headquarters. representatives of directly affiliated enterprises said that they would study and implement the spirit of the meeting, complete the work tasks in 2019, and comprehensively advance the high-quality development of bluestar.