By Jane Ho, Crain News Service
CHONGQING, China (Jan. 6, 2015) — Giti Tire Group has suspended operations at its radial truck tire plant in Chongqing and is laying off 1,000 employees at the 57-year-old plant.
Local news reports cited environmental problems as a major reason for Giti's action, but the Singapore-based company refutes the allegations.
“This is part of Giti's overall transformation strategy under [China's] current economic conditions, not a response to environmental complaints as reported by local media,” the plant's vice general manager Li Jianlong told European Rubber Journal, a United Kingdom-based sister publication of Tire Business.
The plant continues to have about 100 staff on duty at the plant, which Giti acquired in 2002. It was known as Chongqing Zhongce Tire Co. prior to this.