On October 13, the opening ceremony and press conference of the CNBM Mineral Products Testing and Certification Laboratory were successfully held in Abuja, Nigeria, marking the official commencement of operations of CNBM Materials Technology Africa Co., Ltd., CTC's first overseas holding subsidiary in actual operation. This is a landmark achievement of CTC in thoroughly implementing the strategy of “rebuilding an overseas China National Building Materials Group in ten years,” earnestly fulfilling the “100-Point CTC” requirement of China Building Materials Academy, and promoting the “going out, going in, and going up” of inspection, testing, and certification business. It is also a milestone practice serving China-Africa mining cooperation.

Seizing the Trend and Anchoring the Implementation of the Internationalization Strategy

In 2023, China National Building Materials Group, with the goal of building a world-class enterprise with international competitiveness, clearly defined its international development goal of recreating a China National Building Materials Group overseas in approximately 10 years. Under the guidance of China National Building Materials Group's international development path, Zhi Xiao, Assistant to the General Manager of China National Building Materials Group and Party Committee Secretary and Chairman of China Building Materials Academy, clearly proposed the core requirement of building a “100-Point CTC” and placed international development in an important and prominent position. Among them, the first “0” is to use the Nigerian overseas testing company as a breakthrough point to continuously achieve “0” breakthroughs in overseas testing.

As Africa‘s largest economy, Nigeria is endowed with abundant mineral resources and has a booming building materials and infrastructure industry, but its local high-end testing capabilities have shortcomings. Centering on the implementation of the strategic requirements of China National Building Materials Group and China Building Materials Academy, CTC timely adjusted its “14th Five-Year Plan” strategic plan, incorporated the implementation of the “100-Point CTC” requirement into its mid-term optimization, fully accelerated its international layout, promoted the realization of “0 breakthroughs” in overseas testing, took Nigeria as the frontier for African market development, and officially launched the construction of an overseas entity.

Breaking Through with Practical Action, Crossing Mountains and Seas to Build a Solid Overseas Quality Position

Starting a business overseas is a long and challenging journey. CTC anchored on the “100-Point CTC” goal, took internationalization as a breakthrough and key lever to address domestic industry involution and enhance core competitiveness, and spent two years in preparation. The project team crossed geographical time zones, faced multiple practical challenges such as policy differences and complex overseas market environments, and achieved the “from 0 to 1” breakthrough of an overseas entity step by step, from in-depth preliminary research and multi-party shareholder coordination to company registration, team formation, and laboratory equipment installation and commissioning.

Conducting In-Depth Local Research to Understand Market Needs. Since the project was launched, under the care and guidance of the leadership of China Building Materials Academy, CTC organized multiple on-site research visits, actively engaged with institutions such as the University of Bello, the China Mining Association of Nigeria, and the China Chamber of Commerce in Nigeria, fully researched the real demands of Nigeria's mining and building materials industries, and systematically assessed local policies and regulations, industry status, and testing market gaps, laying a solid foundation for business positioning and service models.

Attended the Opening Ceremony and Press Conference

Conducted a Research Visit to Nigeria

Four-Party Shareholder Coordination to Build a Localized Platform. The project is controlled by CTC with a 51% stake, jointly established with China Building Materials Academy, Sinoma Construction, and Xi'an Wall Materials Research & Design Institute. CTC exports mature inspection and testing technologies and quality management systems; Sinoma Construction, which has been deeply rooted locally for many years, provides valuable localized operational support; and the Academy and Xi'an Wall Materials Research & Design Institute fully leverage their technical heritage in building materials research and standard development. The complementary advantages of all parties jointly build a market-oriented, independently operated overseas technical service platform.

Building a High-Standard Laboratory to Consolidate Hardware and Software Foundations. The laboratory is strictly built in accordance with ISO international standards and Nigerian NiNAS standards. Within the 620-square-meter site, more than 30 professional functional zones are divided, equipped with over 40 sets of advanced testing equipment. The team adopts an integrated model of “Chinese backbone staff + local employees,” and all 10 on-duty personnel have undergone systematic training and assessment and are certified to work. From sample reception, pre-treatment, instrument analysis to report issuance and archiving, the entire process is under closed-loop control, safeguarding the scientific and impartial nature of every piece of testing data with a rigorous quality system.

Taking Root in West Africa, Writing a New Chapter of China-Africa Mutual Benefit and Win-Win Cooperation

The official operation of CNBM Materials Technology Africa Co., Ltd. is not only an important milestone in CTC's own international development but also a new starting point for central government-owned enterprise inspection and certification strength to serve China-Africa cooperation. CNBM Materials Technology Africa Co., Ltd. will focus on its core business of mineral product testing, provide mineral product and green building material testing and full-suite technical services to mining enterprises and trading partners, and at the same time build an industry-university-research exchange channel, link with local universities to carry out technical exchanges and local talent cultivation, and support the upgrading of Nigeria's mineral development, infrastructure, and green building materials industries.

The journey is long, and diligent action is unremitting. Under the strong leadership of China National Building Materials Group and China Building Materials Academy, CTC will continue to fulfill its technical responsibilities as a central government-owned enterprise, take the Nigerian overseas entity as a new starting point, continuously deepen coordination among shareholders, adhere to localized compliant operations, continuously refine laboratory service capabilities, promote the deep integration of Chinese testing technology and standards experience with African local practices, and strive to build a China-Africa green building materials cooperation platform integrating inspection and testing, talent cultivation, standards alignment, and achievement transformation. Safeguarding quality through testing and connecting China and Africa through technology, we will contribute to deepening China-Africa economic and trade cooperation and building a China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era.