GE Advanced Materials (GEAM) plans to further expand its manufacturing base in China in an effort to boost its growth in Asia, reported China Daily on Monday.

About US$75 million will be invested into its China-based factories this year and the investment is expected to increase in the years to come, said Alan Leung, president of GEAM Plastics China.

Leung did not give details of how the investment will be spent.

"Our target is to reach annual sales of US$1 billion this year through the investment," he said during his tour of Shanghai last week.

Leung said GEAM's plastics business launched a multi million-US dollar expansion of its compounding and film extrusion facility in Nansha, Guangdong Province last December. By the end of 2004, the facility will add eight new production lines.

"Based on strong growth projections, the company plans to invest additional resources in the Nansha plant beyond levels announced in December," Leung said.

GEAM reported strong earnings last year with plastics sales in China totalling US$640 million and a combined sales of silicone and quartz reaching US$100 million.

"China is a growth engine and an investment region for GE," said John Krenicki, president and chief executive officer of GEAM.

Krenicki said China is enjoying a pace of development perhaps unprecedented in its history. "GE wants to invest in that growth."

"We will strengthen our position as partners on the ground, working closely with high-tech Chinese companies in a wide range of industries," he said.

GE has set up a US$30 million research and development centre, China Technology Centre in Shanghai Zhangjiang High-tech Park, which has become its fourth global research and development facility.

The centre will provide cutting-edge research, technological development and provide materials and components for GE's diverse business portfolio.

GEAM is also building a new quartz plant in Wuxi with an investment of US$23 million to serve the robust lighting industry in China.

The plant is targeted to open at the end of 2004.

The burgeoning semiconductor industry has become a key expansion area for GEAM Quartz in China, which has seen an investment of more than 10 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion) from GEAM, Krenicki said.

Source: China Daily