Petronas, Malaysia's top integrated oil and gas corporation, recently launched its first subsidiary company in China in this southern boom town, in an effort to further pave its way into the downstream sector of China's petroleum industry.

With registered capital of US$20.4 million, the new company, Petronas Marketing China Company Ltd (PMCCL), is poised to strategize and manage the expansion of its petroleum products retail and marketing activities in southern and southwestern parts of China.

PMCCL has expected to cash in the high-end lubricant products business as China has witnessed a craze for auto-buying.

Clement Ooi, PMCCL general manager and chief executive, told China Daily that "compared with the existing lubricant brands, we will adopt different marketing strategies and make more efforts to quickly build up our brand recognition of high-end lubricants."

Ooi also noted that the impact of PMCCL's entry to China would add more competitiveness in the lucrative lubricant market, improving the overall level of service to the customer.

Further, Ooi pointed out that PMCCL, located within the premises of the Shenzhen Kerry Yantian Port Logistics Centre, the fourth largest container terminal in the world, further enhances Petronas' presence in China, providing synergy to its other outfits already operational in the country.

"With the largest automobile purchasing power in China, South China has seen a huge demand for lubricant and its related petrochemical products. Shenzhen will be a good gateway for us to explore business in this region." Ooi said.

"Also, Shenzhen's excellent infrastructure and an investor-friendly environment are very conducive to doing business." he said.

Petronas' outfits include a representative office in Beijing, a liaison office in Shanghai for its subsidiary Malaysian International Trading Corporation (MITCO), as well as another petroleum products marketing subsidiary based in Hong Kong.

Apart from this, Petronas is also a partner in a joint venture in Jiangsu that imports, bottles and distributes liquefied petroleum gas.

Founded in 1974, Petronas, a Fortune 500 company with business operations in 35 countries, has reached revenue and net profit of US$241.33 billion and US$39.76 billion last year.

First entered China in 1991 in the oil and gas exploration sector, Petronas has also expanded into the downstream sector of country's oil and gas industry recently.

According to company sources, the sale of crude oil to China has totalled 26.133 million barrels from April 2003 to January 2004.

However, the company still has much to do in the Chinese market.

The company is a technology partner to the Sauber Petronas Formula 1 Team, a partner to the Foggy Petronas World Superbike Racing Team, and is principal sponsor in other motor sports teams competing in Malaysian, regional and international championships.