Zoom imageHuang Guoping, Deputy Director of Jinqiao AC; Dai Haibo, Deputy District Governor;
Dr. Marijn Dekkers, Chairman of the Bayer AG Board of Management; Michael König, Senior Bayer Representative for Greater China; and Dr. Ulrich Liman, Head of the Polymer Research & Development Center (from left to right), at the groundbreaking ceremony.
Bayer MaterialScience has held a groundbreaking ceremony for the next expansion phase of its Polymer Research & Development Center in Shanghai, China. This facility, which will become an innovation center for the company, is scheduled for completion by the second half of 2012.
The expansion is part of the some €1 billion investment announced in December 2010 to nearly double the production capacities of Bayer MaterialScience in Shanghai. At the same time, the company plans to carry out research and development in closer proximity to its customers in the growth economies in line with Bayer’s global strategy.
“China is the largest market in the Asia/Pacific region and the third largest single market for Bayer globally, which is why China and Asia are central to our global strategy,” said Dr. Marijn Dekkers, Chairman of the Bayer AG Board of Management, speaking at the ceremony. “The expansion of the Polymer Research & Development Center forms a major part of our extensive investment program in Shanghai, because innovation is essential for our future growth. Closeness to our customers is also important in enabling us to quickly respond to their specific needs.”