Bayer MaterialScience, a subgroup of the Bayer Group, plans to add a 50,000-metric-ton per year hexamethylene diisocyanate production unit to its existing integrated site in Shanghai to meet the rising need for high-performance end products.

Up to 76 percent of China's urban families will be classified as middle class by 2022, with total annual income of 60,000 to 229,000 yuan ($9,680 to $36,945). In contrast, only 4 percent of the country's urban families were middle class in 2000, the latest report from consulting firm McKinsey & Co said.

Rapidly growing urbanization, climate change and industry upgrades will call for an optimization of production processes and the supply of high-quality, energy-efficient and environmentally friendly products such as HDI, said Daniel Meyer, head of the coatings, adhesives, specialties business unit of Bayer MaterialScience.

The HDI products include sustainable textile coating solutions, innovative lean coating processes for the automotive industry, next-generation adhesives for the footwear industry, and decorative coating solutions for lightweight materials, he said.

According to Meyer, China contributes 50 percent of the global automotive output, 80 percent of footwear and 90 percent of consumer electronics.

Bayer MaterialScience already has a 30,000-ton per year HDI facility in Shanghai, which started production in 2007.