CHANGZHOU, China, March 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Foreign-owned companies are seeing increased potential in the Chinese market as the country continues to implement the China Manufacturing 2025 initiative in tandem with intelligent assembly in intelligent factories. Changzhou National Hi-Tech District (CND) has been helping foreign-owned companies that have set up operations in the district ready for the new landscape by providing a better platform, more favorable policies and a more business-friendly environment. Foreign-owned companies, many of them leaders in their respective fields, have located their Chinese manufacturing capabilities at CND. These companies, an illustrative example of which is Germany-based LANXESS, one of the world's leading specialty chemicals producers, have already started to leverage the opportunities brought by China's ongoing economic growth.
Located at No. 8, Huanghai Road, Changzhou Xinbei District in CND, LANXESS Changzhou Site is responsible for the production of leather chemicals, synthetic rubber and high-performance plastics for the Greater China and Asia region. The facility has been benefiting from the rapid growth of China's leather chemical industry and the industry's enhanced commitment to environmental protection.
In 2013, LANXESS started production at its first facility in CND, a factory funded by a 30 million euros investment. Since then, the company has continued to increase its investment in the hi-tech district. From 2013 to 2015, the German firm invested 235 million euros to build a synthetic rubber production facility at CND. On November 23, 2017, LANXESS announced a further investment of 20 million euros for the construction in Changzhou of the third phase of its high-performance plastics facility. This latest expansion in capacity is scheduled to go into operation in 2019.
LANXESS officially started its operation in China in 2005 after spin-off from Bayer in 2004. During the ensuing thirteen years, the ongoing development of the China business has been a key component of the firm's strategy and revenue. According to the figures released by LANXESS, during the first three quarters of 2017 the company's Greater China business grew by roughly 35% compared to the same period of 2016.
As Changzhou accelerates the area's transformation into one of the leading intelligent manufacturing bases in China and becomes a unique industry technology innovation center in the Yangtze River Delta, CND expects to be able to continue creating more opportunities for the foreign-owned companies that have set up operations in the district.
