More Foreign Companies Set up Research & Development Centers in Shanghai

The German-based company Bayer, one of the world's leading chemical companies, recently established a research and development center (R&D) in Shanghai.

Including Bayer, 32 foreign companies have set up R&D centers in Shanghai, such as Rockwell, General Motors, Volkswagen and Ericsson.

Economists said the setting up of R&D centers represents a new trend in foreign investment in China, signaling that "the level of opening-up and reform in China has entered a higher level."

Meanwhile many foreign-funded companies established in Shanghai have become their decision-making headquarters of the entire Asia-Pacific region.

General Manager Werner Paulus of the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC) told reporters that the establishment of PATAC, a 25-million-US-dollar project, will provide technical support to Shanghai GM, the largest China-US joint venture, making products to the taste of Chinese consumers.

"It is no longer true that anything produced by transnational companies will be sold out here like it was before," he said. "We have to accustom ourselves to such changes."

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Don H.Davis of Rockwell said the company's decision to set up R&D center in Shanghai marks its determination to explore the Chinese market in the long run.

People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/