“While China invests in electric vehicles, the Far East focuses on hydrogen fuel cells, and the United States remains anchored to combustion engines, Europe cannot stand by and watch but must chart its own path by focusing on hydrogen and e-fuels (synthetic liquid fuels produced from hydrogen generated using green energy sources).” This is the strong and clear message Giorgio Girondi, Chairman of the UFI Group, delivers in an interview with Carlo Valentini published in newspaper Italia Oggi on Saturday, July 26, 2025.
A bridge between Europe and Asia for innovation
In the interview, Girondi strongly emphasizes that Europe’s answer to global competition cannot be protectionism, but rather a strategy of presence and collaboration.
“China plays a strategic role in global balance, and Europe’s role is to build bridges, not barriers.” Girondi recalled that UFI has been present in China since 1996 with a network that now consists of seven manufacturing plants, the result not of outsourcing, but of a strategic choice aimed at building a global innovation ecosystem.
“We invested in China thirty years ago and continue to do so. Our goal is not to outsource, but to create innovation on a global level,” Girondi states.
With this vision, UFI has recently inaugurated UFI Green in Jiaxing, a state-of-the-art facility powered by renewable energy and dedicated to sustainable technologies for electric and hydrogen mobility. This example demonstrates how industrial integration between Europe and China can generate technological value for both continents.
In a geopolitical context marked by tension and tariffs, the Group’s strategy is clear: diversify markets, maintain local presence, but act with a global vision.
UFI Group’s Investments
Girondi also pointed out that the UFI Group is moving forward with its investments in the hydrogen sector, thanks to the new company, UFI Hydrogen, the only Italian firm promoted in the IPCEI Hy2Move project by the European Commission. The company is dedicated to research and development, implementation, and industrialization of MEA Technology – Membrane Electrode Assembly – catalysed membranes for four types of application: the production of green hydrogen through water electrolysis; the production of clean electricity by converting hydrogen with fuel cells; the production of e-fuels through the transformation of CO2 in combination with green hydrogen; and electrochemical compression for the storage, purification, and transport of hydrogen itself.
UFI’s technological commitment also extends to space applications and Formula 1, where the Group supplies all 10 teams and is ready for the challenges of the new 2026 power units.
