French chemical producer Arkema, led by its Chairman and CEO Thierry Le Hénaff, inaugurated its first Research and Development (R&D) Centre located at the Changshu industrial site, China on 17 October.

The Changshu Research and Development Centre (CRDC) will render development capacities as well as ideal local support for the Group's customers in China and South-East Asia, Arkema says. With the company’s pioneering KTC (Kyoto Technical Centre) in Japan, the new centre will bolster Arkema's growth ambition in Asia, with the firm targeting 30% of its sales in fast growing regions by 2016.

The new centre is seen to help speed up development of customised products and solutions for Arkema's customers in China and South-East Asia in fast-growing markets, namely batteries, photovoltaics, electronics packaging, automotive, cable, sports and paint.

CRDC is equipped with state of the art systems., including application laboratories for batteries, membranes and coatings, a centre of excellence for thermoplastics (extrusion, injection, etc.), a process expertise centre (pilot reactor systems, polymerisation, distillation), as well as a training center for customers. It houses a team of top researchers, most of whom are young graduates from leading universities, Arkema adds.