The Taiwan-headquartered Taibo Group is to set up the world’s largest soda plant in Huaian, in the north of Jiangsu province. Construction started on 29 September.

Taibo is one of the world’s largest glass manufacturers. According to the group’s chairman Lin Boshi, the US$1.14bn project aims to utilise the area’s rich reserves of salt mines. Scheduled to be completed within three years, it is expected to generate annual revenues of Rmb3bn. Its vacuum salt facility with an annual capability of 1.2m tons and its alkali facility with an annual capacity of 1m tons will be the largest in the world.

Until now, Taiwanese manufacturers have tended to cluster in southern Jiangsu cities, such as Suzhou and Kunshan; the northern half of the province has been less successful in attracting investors. However, a number of Taiwan companies have started to establish operations in northern Jiangsu, including Foxconn, Darfon, Hongsheng, Wangwang and Master Kong.