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Most Chinese women had never heard of sanitary pads in the late 1980s – Chinese society was conservative and information was scarce.

TEXT CARINA CHELA

PHOTOGRAPHY UTEC

production capacity is around one million tonnes. The company’s three major brands are Hearttex, Premium (Youxuan) and Pino, which come in many different pack sizes. Hearttex has been the number one tissue brand in the Chinese market for years. Working together for sustainable development Reflecting on the past three decades, Xu says: “Hengan could not have got to where it is today without its integrity, innovation, corporate culture and commitment to responsibility. Furthermore, achieving corporate social responsibility would not have been possible without the help and support of our partners.” UPMhas partnered with Hengan as a pulp supplier since 2009. “UPM is Hengan’s best choice. The help they have provided in raising customer awareness of sustainable development is even more valuable than their products and technical service,” says Xu. Hengan attaches great importance to sustainable development. Last year, UPM and Hengan started an ongoing active dialogue on corporate responsibility. Environmental and safety issues have been top of the agenda at their joint meetings. In 2014, domestic tissue production capacity increased by 4.4% to 8.3 million tonnes in China. According to Xu, the Chinese tissue paper industry is now overcrowded and price competition is fierce. Companies that do not comply with environmental requirements or that offer low-quality products will be driven out of the market sooner or later. But regardless of how the market changes, Hengan will continue to advance step by step, pursuing its vision of “building China’s top tissue company.”

UPM AND UTEC

Tissues put Hengan on fast track to growth Xu’s next breakthrough product, a tissue brand called ‘Hearttex’, provided the company with a springboard for rapid growth. In 1998, Xu was troubled by sinusitis. Struggling to find handkerchiefs that didn’t shed fibres, he was forced to make frequent trips to Hong Kong. He became keenly aware of a gap in the market for high-quality tissues. With China in the twentieth year of its reform and open-door policy, Xu saw an opportunity to tap into the country’s rising standard of living and changing consumer awareness. Xu revolutionized the tissue industry by introducing a new, high- quality paper tissue brand. Refusing to stoop to imitation or price wars, he instead built a brand image based on independent innovation. Hearttex quickly conquered the South China market and the entire industry not long after its launch. Currently, Hengan’s annual tissue

Uruguay's first regional university builds on cooperation between industry and academia. T he last time Rodolfo Silveira , one of the Managing Directors of the Technological University of Uruguay (UTEC), visited Finland was when he was living in Sweden and working on his PhD. Forty years later, he is now in Finland again thanks to a cooperation agreement signed between UTEC and UPM for the construction of Uruguay’s Southwest Regional Technological Institute (ITR). Following the agreement signed in February 2015, ITR opened its doors to students this spring in Fray Bentos. The cooperation is a model between industry and academia, a synergy that maximises mutual benefit from each other’s capabilities. “We believe that the relationship between the university and the private sector is of great importance. UPM’s contribution has enabled us to build our first regional

According to Xu, the Chinese tissue paper industry is now overcrowded and price competition is fierce. Companies that do not comply with environmental requirements or offer low-quality products will be driven out of the market sooner or later.

The university is still under construc- tion but is scheduled to be completed by August 2016. In future, ITR will have capacity for 2 000 students.

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