Kodak held a ceremony in Xiamen on November 10to celebrate the completion of the first phase of its China production base.

Located in Xiamen in south China's Fujian Province, the base occupies 430,000 square meters and is being built at a cost of 650 million US dollars. It is Kodak's largest and most advanced base for film and printing-paper production in Asia.

Construction began in June 1998 and is scheduled to be completed late next year.

Now, factories at the base have begun manufacturing and exporting film and printing paper for amateur and professional use. According to test results provided by Kodak, the quality of 35 mm film made in China is tops among similar Kodak products made in other countries.

Daniel A. Carp, president and CEO of Kodak, said at today's ceremony that he feels proud of having established a solid groundwork in China. China has become the third-largest market for Kodak products, and the company intends to make further achievements in the next century, the president added.

Kodak's total investment in China now exceeds 1.2 billion US dollars.