An opening ceremony was held on June 6, 2009 (Saturday) for the new manufacturing plant established at Tangshan City in China. This manufacturing plant is a new endeavor for our local subsidiaries, Sumitomo Heavy Industries (Tangshan) , Ltd., and Sumitomo (S.H.I.) Construction Machinery (Tangshan) Co., Ltd. The day before the ceremony the Party Secretary, and Mayor, Mr. Zhao Yong, as well as our company's President Mr. Nakamura, held a meeting, during which the Party Secretary offered his personal congratulations. Furthermore, the Party Vice Secretary and Vice Mayor, Mr. Zhang Yi Zhen, attended the ceremony, with a very warm reception extended by the local community. The ceremony was extremely well attended and among others participating were President, Mr. Nakamura, as well as Sumitomo (S.H.I.) Construction Machinery's President, Mr. Shimizu.

Sumitomo Heavy Industries (Tangshan) , Ltd., will produce gear reducers and Sumitomo (S.H.I.) Construction Machinery (Tangshan) Co., Ltd., will produce hydraulic excavators. Reduction gears are types of equipment intended to raise the rotational force of a motor by reducing its rotational frequency. Our reduction gears are rated the best in Japan and positioned second globally. Compact and mid-size reduction gear manufacturing plants have already been established in China, at Tianjin and Shanghai. This new manufacturing plant, on the other hand, has been established as a plant dedicated to the production of mid and large-size reduction gears. However, this is the first overseas manufacturing plant for hydraulic excavators. Sumitomo (S.H.I.) Construction Machinery has been striving to develop environmentally friendly products and now the company is proud to be rated the best in economical efficiency for the industry, as evidenced by awards like the "Energy Conservation Grand Prize", an honor bestowed upon the company. Enhancement of competitiveness and timely product supplies are targeted through local production in the Chinese market, where a high growth rate is anticipated in the future.