Hopu Co., Ltd. President Song Fucai: Do not engage in unprofitable business; being "too high or too low" will be eliminated by the market

Ask AI · Under the three major pain points of the hydrogen energy industry, how can companies avoid a “high but not achievable, low but not suitable” situation?

China Economic Journal reporter Zhang Yingying and Wu Kezhong, Beijing report

“Last year, the company’s overall performance received strong support from overseas markets. Not only did we not incur losses, but our hydrogen energy segment also achieved profitability,” said Song Fucai, President of Hopu Co., Ltd. (300471.SZ), in a recent interview with reporters from China Business Journal.

HEIE2026 Beijing International Hydrogen Energy Technology Equipment Exhibition Hopu Co., Ltd. booth. Zhang Yingying / Photo

Financial reports show that in 2025, Hopu Co., Ltd. achieved operating revenue of 1.079 billion yuan, up 71.15% year over year; net profit attributable to the parent company was 7.8448 million yuan, up 109.52% year over year. This is the company’s first annual profit since it began recording losses consecutively after 2022.

According to Hopu Co., Ltd., the profitability mainly benefited from the decline in domestic LNG prices and the growth in LNG vehicle sales, which boosted demand in the traditional natural gas refueling segment; the hydrogen energy business maintained steady development, consolidating overall scale; international expansion achieved notable results; meanwhile, the company strategically abandoned low-profit orders and advanced cost reduction and efficiency improvement.

After more than 20 years of development, Hopu Co., Ltd. has formed a two-sector layout covering natural gas and hydrogen energy. Since entering the hydrogen energy field in 2013, the company has connected the full chain of “hydrogen production (electrolyzers) — storage and transportation (solid-state hydrogen storage, liquid hydrogen) — refueling — terminal applications (hydrogen-powered two-wheel vehicles),” enabling it to provide an end-to-end EPC+O&M overall solution covering “engineering design + intelligent equipment manufacturing + core component R&D + smart operations services.” According to information disclosed by the industry institution TrendBank, in 2025, Hopu’s hydrogen refueling equipment ranked among the top three.

“Absolutely no loss-making business”

Song Fucai told reporters that last year Hopu’s hydrogen energy business revenue exceeded 100 million yuan, with overseas markets accounting for 70%. “Overseas market space is relatively large; if we only do the domestic market, it’s difficult to achieve profitability,” he said. “At present, for domestic hydrogen companies to survive, they either need advanced technology that others cannot reach, or need costs so low that others cannot compete. In the end, ‘high but not achievable, low but not suitable’ will only lead to elimination by the market.”

He explained that Hopu’s hydrogen energy equipment exported overseas includes refueling equipment and 1000 Nm³/h containerized alkaline electrolyzer hydrogen-production equipment, which are mainly sold to Europe and other regions. “Our products, backed by solid quality and technology, have passed stringent local standards certification, and have a high safety factor—giving us certain advantages in the industry,” said Song Fucai.

In Song Fucai’s view, in the wave of hydrogen energy going overseas, companies need to have four core capabilities: technological R&D capability, international market expansion capability, quality assurance capability, and internal control capability. “In the past two years, although our business has grown, our positioning is clear—we will focus on developing international high-end clients, and within China we will concentrate on quality clients. We absolutely do not do loss-making business.”

Although the hydrogen energy business has achieved growth, Song Fucai also admitted that after deepening in the sector for more than 10 years, many practitioners in the industry are still “working while searching for hope.” “The market generally believes hydrogen energy is a trillion-yuan-level boom opportunity, and enterprises rush in, but the industry has not truly erupted to date,” he said. He added that from the perspective of energy security and green, low-carbon development, hydrogen energy is an important supplement to the new energy system, but it is not realistic to position it as the “ultimate energy.” At present, the hydrogen energy industry still faces three major pain points: it is difficult to absorb hydrogen due to a supply-demand mismatch in hydrogen production in the western regions; the hydrogen storage and transportation system is weak; and the economic viability of application scenarios is insufficient.

Song Fucai gave an example: “During the ‘14th Five-Year Plan’ period, state-owned and central enterprises invested in many synthetic ammonia and alcohol projects, but currently only a few are operating normally. The core problem is that absorption and the application side have not truly been connected. In the past, some regions invested in hydrogen fuel cell vehicle projects, but hydrogen energy application costs are high and vehicle investments are large, lacking economic viability. In the short term, policy can help support demonstration projects to land, but in the long term, it is difficult to sustain.”

On the policy front, in March 2026, the hydrogen energy industry once again became a focus of top-level design. This year’s Government Work Report lists hydrogen energy and green fuels as “new growth points”; the “15th Five-Year Plan” outline places hydrogen energy among future industries and lays out green hydrogen ammonia. In addition, three departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the National Development and Reform Commission jointly issued a notice, clarifying that in each city cluster, priority should be given to carrying out pilot programs in scenarios such as fuel cell vehicles, green ammonia, substitution of hydrogen-based chemical feedstocks, hydrogen metallurgy, and hydrogen-blended combustion, exploring innovative application paths for hydrogen energy.

“Although it’s difficult to precisely judge the commercialization progress of the hydrogen energy industry, in the ‘15th Five-Year Plan’ period there will definitely be leapfrog development,” Song Fucai predicted.

“To make ‘low-cost, high-quality’ equipment”

Song Fucai believes that for equipment companies, the key is to produce equipment that is “low-cost and high-quality,” and to match the needs of application scenarios. He also suggested, “The government should focus on key support for companies with strong equipment manufacturing capabilities, and promote the integration and connection of the equipment industry chain. At present, some local governments do not have enough understanding of the hydrogen energy industry. They blindly introduce manufacturing enterprises, and after investing funds to build factories, the products still cannot meet market demand.”

When talking about the space for cost reduction, Song Fucai said, “It mainly depends on market size. Without scale, it’s hard to reduce costs. Only when production volume increases can costs truly come down.”

With policy tailwinds, Hopu Co., Ltd. has, over the past two years, focused on three major areas: hydrogen transportation, hydrogen chemical industry, and hydrogen energy storage, continuously planning core products and scenarios.

In the hydrogen transportation sector, Hopu pioneered an integrated intelligent hydrogen production and refueling equipment. It can be adapted to wind-and-solar hydrogen production, valley electricity hydrogen production, and methanol hydrogen production, and features the characteristics of rapid station establishment, mobility, and easy relocation. It is suitable for scenarios with low investment, small scale, and flexible expansion, such as logistics parks, highway service areas, zero-carbon parks, and integrated energy stations.

“Over the next 5 years, this type of equipment will accelerate the development of hydrogen transportation, helping the industry reduce investment pressure and costs,” Song Fucai said. At present, for the promotion of this equipment domestically, breakthroughs are still needed in the areas of policy approvals and standard regulations.

In the hydrogen chemical industry sector, Hopu focuses on two major scenarios: skid-mounted ammonia synthesis and hydrogen-blending/hydrogen-ammonia blending combustion. Relying on its accumulated experience in engineering EPC general contracting, the company has successively participated in demonstration projects such as Zhangye’s first skid-mounted wind power hydrogen production and green ammonia EPC project, and the first photovoltaic hydrogen and ammonia alcohol coupling system EPC project in Inner Mongolia of CNNC HuiNeng, achieving deep coupling between renewable energy hydrogen production and chemical production. This converts green hydrogen into green ammonia, not only solving hydrogen storage and transportation issues, but also providing clean fuel alternative solutions for high-energy-consuming industries.

Song Fucai introduced that currently, investment in the ammonia synthesis industry is gradually shifting from large-scale centralized facilities in the northwest to small- and medium-sized distributed facilities in southern and central-western regions. The skid-mounted ammonia synthesis equipment developed by the company is precisely designed to fit this industry trend. In addition, the company’s hydrogen-blending and hydrogen-ammonia blending combustion technology enables hydrogen and natural gas to be precisely blended at set ratios, with hydrogen blending ratios of 20% or more. The comprehensive usage cost is lower than that of burning pure natural gas, achieving a double improvement in both economic benefits and carbon-reduction benefits.

(Edit: Dong Shuguang; Review: Wu Kezhong; Proofreading: Zhai Jun)