(teda.gov.cn)Kumho Tires celebrates the commencement of its production at TEDA West. The construction of the company's facility known as Kumho Tires (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. has been completed. Formed in 1960, Kumho Tires is a global well-respected manufacturer of tires with total assets of RMB 11.7 billion. Headquartered in Gwangju, South Korea, the company runs three plants in South Korea with an annual output of 33 million tires. Its sales revenue amounted to RMB11.56 billion in 2004 and RMB140.82 billion in 2005. Profit reached RMB 779 million. Its parent company Kumho Group is a multinational corporation with businesses in fields of financing, trading, tires manufacturing, petrochemicals, transportation, sports, entertainment and civil aviation. Under its umbrella are subsidiaries like Kumho Tires, Kumho Construction, Kumho Petrochemical and Asiana Airlines.Kumho Tires (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. is a project undertaken in April of 2005. The plant spreads out in an area of 310,000 square meters, and its first phase takes up an area of 110,000 square meters. The total investment is USD246 million and its registered capital USD82 million. Kumho Tires'Tianjin facility will manufacture 5.25 million belt tires per year. Kumho Tires will also increase its investment to accommodate an annual production capability of 10.4 million tires. While building its Tianjin presence, Kumho Group will also move its tire R&D center to Tianjin and make its Tianjin facility a foreign foothold offering a complete supply chain of R&D, production and marketing.