The Chinese New Year, or celebration of springtime, is one of the most important traditional festivities in China. It starts on the day of the second new moon after the winter solstice, which always falls between the 21^st January and the 20^th February.

In Chinese astrology, each year is linked to one of the twelve animals representing the Chinese zodiac (Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Rooster, Monkey, Dog or Pig) and also to one of the five elements (Fire, Water, Earth, Metal and Wood). In 2019, we are in the year of the Earth Pig.

As part of these celebrations, CNTY Group invited the Urbaser management, led by CEO José Maria Lopez Piñol, after a series of intensive working meetings between the 19^th and 22^nd February, to share this festive moment.

The Urbaser delegation counted the main Managers from the headquarters in Madrid, but also all the “Country Managers” including our Chairman-CEO, Claude Saint-Joly.

The represented countries where Urbaser is present, included Chile, Argentina, France, Portugal, Bahrein, Mexico, Morocco, Italy, the United States, India and, of course, China.

The Urbaser Group was welcomed to the new CNTY offices in Shanghai by its Technical Director, Doctor Li Jun, who gave a very informative and clear presentation of its different business activities in China, notably in the sector of Waste to Energy, research and the plasma torch. The delegation then went to the CNTY head offices in Hai’an (Nantong city, Jiangsu province), in the north of Shanghai.

This was an opportunity for the Urbaser Group and its “Country Managers” to present their activities in each of their country to the CNTY Chairman, Yan Shengjun, and to the CNTY board. Claude Saint-Joly detailed the growing and recognised place of the Urbaser Group in France and underlined the Group’s growth potential throughout the country, notably thanks to a very high volume of public tender offers and opportunities of synergy with CNTY for implantation of the Energize® technology.

The CNTY Chairman, Yan Shengjun, clearly confirmed CNTY strategic interest in the Urbaser development in France.

The Urbaser teams had the opportunity of visiting CNTY’s spacious workshops for the production of equipment for Waste to Energy and discovered the Energize® grates which will be delivered for the energy recovery unit in Hanoi.

They were especially impressed by a visit to the Hai’an Waste to Energy plant, built and operated by CNTY. This plant, which has a processing capacity of 255.000 tons of household waste per year, is truly spectacular in terms of modernity, cleanliness and performances.

But the Chinese New Year celebration is a really festive event, and this was a perfect opportunity to make new friendships and share time between colleagues from CNTY and Urbaser, who truly appreciated the hospitality offered by its Chinese parent company.

Gala dinner, traditional dances, music and singings, acrobats and magic… all to the joy of the Urbaser delegates but also the whole audience together, which applauded warmly the opening speech from Mr. Cao Debiao, CEO of CNTY, who underlined the leadership position of CNTY on the Asian market.