The shadowy Chinese weapons exporter hit by US sanctions over alleged exports of ballistic missile technology to Iran barely resembles its former self.
Norinco has diversified since 1980 into everything from tourism and hotels to forklifts and finance. One of its dozens of subsidiaries boasts of being China's top motorcycle producer, keen to learn from and compete with Japan's Honda.
But China North Industries Corp (Norinco), set up 23 years ago by the State Council, China's cabinet, has hardly forsaken its roots -- at home it is a top civilian weapons supplier to the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Abroad, it is a competitive arms merchant.
Defense analysts say in recent years it sold howitzers to Kuwait and armored vehicles and artillery systems to Iran and Iraq. It also has close ties with Pakistan and has assisted in domestic production of its tanks.
"Probably the most-well known Chinese company in the Middle East is Norinco," Jane's Defence Weekly says.
Norinco officials contacted since the sanctions, which will deprive the company of US$200 million in exports to the US over the next two years, say nothing about the arms business.
"Everything is normal here. We are executing our orders as usual," said one official. "We are trading in military products. Our business is confidential."
Another official said Norinco exported products used in construction projects to the Middle East, but declined to comment on US allegations it exported ballistic missile technology to Iran. "It's my duty to observe the company secrets," she said.
China's foreign ministry denied the US allegations, called the sanctions "unreasonable" and said China was enforcing a law passed last year to curb missile-related exports.
Norinco is no stranger to US scrutiny. In the mid-1990s, it was implicated in the smuggling of the largest cache of automatic weapons in US history.
Norinco denied involvement in the case, in which federal agents seized 2,000 AK-47 rifles and 4,000 ammunition magazines with a street value of US$4 million.
In May 1997, a Chinese court jailed four people, including Norinco employees, for up to 14 years for smuggling the weapons.
The spotlight has done little to dampen business.
Since 1980, Norinco has evolved into one of China's top 20 import and export firms, recording trade volume of US$27 billion by last year.
Its corporate motto calls for being "faithful and honest, striving for development and keeping high efficiency."
China North Industries Corp's portfolio includes vehicles, real estate, finance and trade, as well as chemicals, explosives, civil firearms, light industrial and "special" products.
Its state-owned parent China North Industries Group, launched as part of economic reforms by paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, is a sprawling empire of 131 subsidiaries with 85 billion yuan (US$10 billion) in assets, 420,000 employees and 100 overseas branches.
The group, on its Web site, www.norincogroup.com.cn, makes little effort to hide its role as one of China's largest weapons manufacturers and stresses its role in national defense and modernization of the PLA.
A gallery of its products displays a range of weaponry from tanks to artillery to missiles. Many of its wares are showcased at October 1 National Day military parades.
"During military parades at the anniversaries marking the founding of the People's Republic, the high-tech military weaponry developed and produced by the group has successfully shown the world state-of-the-art of Chinese weapons," it said.
Since the US move, officials have been less forthcoming. At the gates of its 20-story Beijing headquarters of brown granite and blue glass, guards monitor cars and turn away visitors.
"You can't come in now because of SARS. No outsiders are allowed in," said a company official reached by a phone at the gate kiosk, referring to the deadly flu-like virus that has infected thousands in China.
"And we are not accepting interviews anyway," he said.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from