BASF has broken ground on the second phase of its Innovation Campus Asia Pacific at its Pudong site in Shanghai, China.
The €90 million (US$120.90 million) expansion consists of an additional regional research and development (R&D) building and auxiliary facilities and it will be completed by the end of 2015.
“By 2020, around 25% of BASF’s R&D employees will be located in Asia Pacific. The expansion reinforces BASF’s commitment to globalizing its R&D activities and capturing growth opportunities in China and Asia Pacific,” said Dr. Andreas Kreimeyer, member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE and research executive director.
The Innovation Campus is BASF’s most important R&D center in the region and is expected to become one of its largest R&D sites outside of Germany.
With the expansion, BASF’s regional research capabilities will be further strengthened, focusing primarily on advanced materials and systems as well as adding new areas such as formulations and chemical process and engineering serving growth industries such as automotive, construction, health and nutrition, and home and personal care.
Besides the Innovation Campus in Shanghai, BASF has Asian R&D centers in Japan, Singapore and Korea.
It is also planning an Innovation Campus in India.
BASF increased global spending on research and development to €1.8 billion in 2013 (2012: €1.7 billion), with about 10,650 scientists and researchers working in 3,000 research projects.
With 1,300 patents filed in 2013 and about 151,000 registrations and intellectual property rights worldwide, BASF is at the top of the global Patent Asset Index for the fifth time in succession.
