Amid controversies sparked by the introduction of three housing inspection systems by the Chinese Communist authorities – namely housing inspection, housing pension, and housing insurance – Huacemei Testing and Certification Group Limited (referred to as “Huacemei Testing”), a company previously involved in nucleic acid testing, has obtained qualifications in various areas, including housing inspection, attracting widespread attention.
According to reports from mainland media, recently, some investors on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Interactive Platform raised questions to Huacemei Testing, asking if the company has the capability to conduct inspections on old houses.
In response, on August 27, Huacemei Testing stated that housing inspection is part of its construction and industrial services. The company’s services in the construction field primarily include testing for new construction projects and assessment for existing projects, having obtained multiple qualifications including housing safety assessment.
On August 28, another investor inquired about the company’s housing inspection capability, to which Huacemei Testing replied on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Interactive Platform that housing inspection is a core business of its construction engineering services. Their services cover a wide range of areas including civil and industrial buildings, public buildings (such as civil defense and fire engineering), municipal transportation facilities like roads, bridges, urban railways, as well as railway and water conservancy projects. Housing inspection due to the large market volume, is the most significant sector within the entire scope.
A journalist from China News Agency contacted Huacemei Testing’s securities department, and relevant staff mentioned that construction engineering services are one of the company’s main businesses and that Huacemei has over thirty product lines covering various fields.
According to Huacemei Testing’s recently released semi-annual report, the company’s business is divided into five major sectors based on industry, with service capabilities extending to sectors such as food and agricultural products, environment, construction and industrial services, pharmaceutical and medical services, measurement calibration, new energy vehicles, ships, chips and semiconductors, cosmetics and pet foods, low-carbon environmental protection, green certification, rail transportation, and aviation materials, among others, within the industry’s supply chain.
In the first half of the year, Huacemei Testing achieved operating income of 2.791 billion yuan, a 9.2% year-on-year increase. From the breakdown of revenue sources, it was divided into life sciences, industrial testing, consumer product testing, trade security, and pharmaceutical and medical services, with revenues of 1.259 billion, 559 million, 462 million, 375 million, and 135 million yuan, respectively. Clearly, life sciences revenue accounted for the highest portion.
It is worth noting that during the pandemic, Huacemei Testing had developed nucleic acid testing services.
This news immediately triggered discussions online.
A financial blogger under the moniker of “Fund Guru” commented: “Which noble children are starting a business again? It’s amazing – just as the nucleic acid testing business ends, the vigorous housing inspection industry is back.”
On Weibo, a prominent user, “Anyuan Ding,” remarked: “When the pandemic hit, they did nucleic acid testing; now that housing inspection has arrived, they are doing safety inspections on houses. Their business scope changes with the times, it’s really impressive.”
A netizen stated: “This is a big piece of cake, everyone knows that. They used nucleic acid testing for your medical insurance, now with inspections, even perfectly fine houses need testing. Testing requires money. Test a few more times, and the repair fund will be gone, right? Does this tactic sound familiar? I wonder when Zhang Nuclear’s housing safety inspection qualification was obtained?”
Some netizens questioned: “Are these nucleic acid testing companies omnipotent? Now they can do both nucleic acid testing and housing inspections. Will they expand their housing inspection services to the scale of nucleic acid testing and become another industry giant?”
Huacemei Testing is a privately-owned testing institution that integrates testing, calibration, inspection, certification, and technical services as a third-party organization. Established in 2003 with headquarters in Shenzhen, the company went public on the Growth Enterprise Market in 2009, becoming China’s first listed testing institution. Starting in 2010, it began acquiring other companies, and in 2017, Huacemei Testing established 15 related testing companies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company developed nucleic acid testing services.