The groundbreaking ceremony of the building for the new APAC Application Development Center (AADC) of LANXESS was held at Shanghai Chemical Industry Park (SCIP) on July 3. The AADC is the first project to be settled in at Shanghai International Chemical New Materials Innovation Center. The groundbreaking marks another milestone in the company’s journey of continuous growth in China.

 

Ming Cheng Chien, President of the LANXESS Asia-Pacific Region, said at the ceremony: “With local innovation already making up a large share of new business, the AADC will further strengthen our capabilities to answer the increasing need for localized product grades. As the world is still battling the novel coronavirus, today’s groundbreaking underlines our strong commitment to the Chinese market and its future potential as the world’s largest chemical market.”

 

Ma Jing, Director of Shanghai Chemical Industry Park Management Committee, said in his speech: "LANXESS is the first formal settle-in company of the Shanghai International Chemical New Materials Innovation Center, which is a great and cheerful event for the construction of the Science and Technology Center in SCIP, as well as an important milestone and a new starting point in the process of innovation and development of the chemical industry of Shanghai. Hopefully, with increasingly advanced service and business environments for corporates in SCIP, we can work together with LANXESS to forge SCIP into a benchmark of  innovation centers of the chemical industry, and meanwhile contribute to the transforming, upgrading and sustainable development of the chemical industry in Shanghai."

 

The ceremony was attended by Ming Cheng Chien, President of the LANXESS Asia-Pacific Region; Dr. Hu Dongqi, Director of Innovation & Technology, LANXESS Greater China; Ma Jing, Director of Shanghai Chemical Industry Park Administration Committee; Yu Liangru, Hou Jinhua, Zhu Bin, Deputy director of Shanghai Chemical Industry Park Administration Committee; Zhang Chun, President of Shanghai Chemical Industry Park Development Co., Ltd., and leaders of related projects.

 

In September 2019, LANXESS signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with SCIP. In November 2019, LANXESS announced the plan to establish an integrated APAC Application Development Center to further strengthen its innovation capabilities in China and the Asia-Pacific region. In March 2020, LANXESS announced that the AADC would be located in SCIP.

 

The setup of AADC is an important part of LANXESS’s development plan in Asia. In order to promote the synergy between the business units in APAC, LANXESS established a new regional structure in the Asia-Pacific region in 2018. Headquartered in Shanghai, the region covers Greater China, Japan, South Korea and the ASEAN countries.