Hangzhou, China, Sept. 01, 2025 — Amidst the picturesque setting of West Lake, Global New Material International (GNMI) officially concluded its acquisition of the global Surface Solutions business (Susonity) from Merck KGaA. Concurrently, the company inaugurated its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Tonglu, Hangzhou.
This €665 million cross-border acquisition stands as the largest transaction of its kind within China’s pearlescent materials industry. It also marks a pivotal step for Zhejiang-based enterprises to deeply integrate into the global industrial chain and redefine their role in the worldwide value ecosystem.
The inauguration ceremony, themed “As One We Rise, Together We Shine,” commenced with an AI-powered animated countdown. Virtual visuals seamlessly blended with the physical stage, as laser beams and dynamic lighting converged to form an expansive global network. This display vividly embodied Global New Material’s core philosophy: “Driven with Technology, Growing with the World.”
A highly symbolic “map lighting” segment followed, with distinguished guests jointly activating the ceremony. Using a digital map, participants illuminated China, Germany, and key business centers across the Asia-Pacific region. These connecting light beams illustrated a strategic blueprint for real-time global connectivity, industrial-financial synergy, and a vision of technology-driven worldwide collaboration.
Zhejiang, one of China’s most dynamic and internationally focused provinces, is home to Global New Material International. Through this acquisition, GNMI aims to unify German technology, China’s vast market, and Asia-Pacific manufacturing efficiency, thereby achieving truly global operations. This initiative exemplifies Zhejiang companies’ commitment to synergistic development.
In his address, Su Ertian, Chairman and CEO of Global New Material International, underscored that the acquisition represents not only a major milestone in the company’s global strategy but also a transformative moment for China’s materials industry, shifting from “technology followers” to “value co-creators.”
“We are not merely integrating technology, capacity, and channels, but building an innovation ecosystem that transcends cultures and geographies,” he stated.
Johannes Baillou, Chairman of the Merck family board, expressed high regard for this China-German business collaboration.
From initial “going out” to now “going deep,” Zhejiang entrepreneurs are actively responding to global industrial shifts. As a core part of the Yangtze River Delta’s open economy, Zhejiang companies have evolved beyond simply exporting products, entering a new phase of “systemic globalization” driven by capital, technology, and branding. This acquisition serves as a prime example of Zhejiang firms utilizing cross-border transactions to gain access to crucial technologies and expand their market networks. It signals a shift where Chinese companies are becoming leaders in technology integration and strategic upgrading, not just capital providers.
In the afternoon, the “Global Development and Cross-Border Integration Forum” featured Chairman Su and several experts discussing the transformation of the global materials industry value chain. Topics included technology co-creation, compliance management, and cultural integration, all conveying a clear message of confidence: Chinese companies are advancing from being participants in globalization to setting global standards.
Notably, this acquisition follows Global New Material International’s 2023 purchase of South Korea’s CQV, further advancing its external growth strategy. The company is establishing a global supply chain network with Europe as its technology hub and Asia-Pacific as its efficiency center, forming a “China-Europe dual engine with Asia-Pacific synergy.”
As the lights dimmed and the forum concluded, the event, a convergence of technology, industry, and culture, drew to a close. However, Global New Material International’s journey of global integration has just commenced. From the Qiantang River to the Rhine, and from “exporting products” to “building global ecosystems,” Zhejiang entrepreneurs are demonstrating through practical and profound international endeavors that the global development of Chinese companies is not a mere one-way expansion, but a mutually beneficial journey of multicultural exchange and multi-market progress.
The event saw attendance from hundreds of business and financial industry leaders, both Chinese and international.
CONTACT: Vivian Wu Global New Material International Holdings Limited vivian-at-chesir.com
