Bayer opens new Shanghai base
By Wan Zhihong (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-09-06 09:23
Links with China go back to 1882
Bayer's links with China go back to 1882, when it first began marketing dyes
on the Chinese market.
Today, China is Bayer's second-largest single
market in Asia, with sales of around US$1.6 billion in 2005. The company
currently employs some 4,900 people in China and the country is also one of
Bayer's main targets for global investment.
Bayer is represented in China
by 19 companies across the group, including the subgroups Bayer CropScience,
Bayer HealthCare and Bayer MaterialScience, as well as the service company Bayer
Technology Services.
Ten of the companies have active production
facilities or are in the process of establishing facilities.
The signing
of a co-operation agreement between Bayer and the Ministry for Chemical Industry
in 1993 laid the foundations for expanding the company's business activities in
China. A year later, Bayer (China) Ltd was established as a holding company in
Beijing to co-ordinate the transfer of technology and market development, and
support the preparation and implementation of joint-venture projects. It was
relocated to Shanghai at the end of 2003.
Bayer's commitment in China is
evident not only in its investment in production facilities, but also by the
company's active support for research and education. An example of its
co-operative scientific research is an agreement signed in April 2001 with
China's leading research institution, the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The aim
of the co-operation was to increase academic exchanges in research and
development and improve mutual access to research facilities.
Bayer also
understands that maintaining a strong sense of social responsibility enhances
its standing and value. It commits to causes in line with both its core business
as well as values.
Sports and the environment are central in China, and
Bayer has partnerships with the Special Olympics and the Soccer in a Box
programme for schools in rural China.
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