BASF, the world's leading chemical company, announced the groundbreaking for a new innovation technology park on Monday as it expands in China and the Asia-Pacific region.

The new innovation park will open in the first half of 2012 in the Pudong New Area of Shanghai, said Saori Dubourg, president of BASF Asia Pacific. The total investment will be approximately 55 million euros ($72.3 million), which includes the new park and a new BASF China head office, to be relocated to Pudong from its present site in downtown Shanghai.

"In keeping with our Asia-Pacific Strategy 2020, we intend to stay close to our customers as they develop their markets, by creating innovations from Asia, for Asia. With the establishment of this new facility, all BASF parties involved in the innovation process will be based at one site: research and development teams, marketing and sales teams and industry target groups, as well as local production plants," Dubourg said.

Starting in 2012, around 450 scientific and technical professionals will work at the new innovation park. Research there will focus on product development for BASF's businesses in Asia-Pacific, developing solutions for industries such as construction, automotives, footwear, and cosmetics.

BASF intends to produce 70 percent of its Asia-Pacific sales in the region, and the continued development of its local production base in China is crucial to achieve this.

BASF plans to invest about 2 billion euros in the Asia-Pacific region from 2009 to 2013.

The innovation park in Shanghai will have a visitor center, showrooms and a lecture hall to provide an exchange platform among industry experts, scientific communities and government authorities.

The company also broke ground on Monday for its new head office in China. That building, to open in 2012, will house BASF's China administration, functional units, and sales and marketing for its business units. With its offices, factories and laboratories, the Pudong site will become a major BASF center with more than 2,000 employees.

"This makes it the biggest site of BASF outside Ludwigshafen, Germany," said Johnny Kwan, senior vice-president of BASF Group and president of BASF (China) Co Ltd.

In another move to expand its footprint in China, BASF has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Sinopec to extend their business connection through the integrated petrochemical joint venture BASF-YPC Co Ltd.

The final scope of the investment will be determined after joint feasibility studies are concluded, the companies said at the 10th anniversary of BASF-YPC.

"BASF-YPC is a role model of successful cooperation between the two sides and a good example of Sinopec's international partnership," said Wang Tianpu, president of Sinopec, at the signing ceremony in Nanjing, Jiangsu province.

BASF is the world's leading chemical company and its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics and performance products to agricultural products, fine chemicals and oil and gas. It posted sales of more than 50 billion euros in 2009.