US high-tech giant Honeywell will plough a massive US$30 million into Shanghai's Pudong district to set up the company's largest research and development center in Asia.

Honeywell (China) Co Ltd Managing Director Jeff Song said Wednesday: "The center, the only comprehensive one in the region, will develop new technologies and products available to its customers and manufacturers in China and other parts of the world."

Song revealed that the first phase of the center, in the Zhangjiang High-Tech Park, will include a US$5 million speciality materials lab, which is expected to be operational by the middle of this year, Song said.

Honeywell currently employs 22 subsidiaries in China with a total of 4,000 employees, having invested a total of US$500 million in the nation.

But the company is far from complacent, according to Nance Dicciani, President and Chief Executive Officer of Specialty Materials Honeywell.

Dicciani said the firm is "still looking for co-operation partners to expand the Chinese market by launching more products."

The R&D center is just one part of the company's ambitious plan to invest in the world's most populous nation.

"China is a growth frontier for Honeywell, where it can find more opportunities to expand," said Dicciani.

Honeywell is currently in talks with leading Chinese company Haier in Qingdao over a project to manufacture refrigerators and air conditioners.

But it will take around three or four months for the negotiations to come to any conclusion, she added.

Lim Song, who is responsible for Asia-Pacific chemical business development at Honeywell, said Shanghai, Qingdao in Shandong Province and Zhejiang Province were all possible locations for the new venture.

However, he failed to reveal either the specific location or the total investment which will take place in the new project.

Dicciani said that increased co-operation with Chinese partners would be the way in which Honeywell would increase its investment in China, which she described as "an important economic power in Asia."

"Honeywell will grow with the Chinese market and its investment determination will not change," she added.

China will provide many opportunities for foreign investors over the next five years, said Dicciani, adding that Honeywell would certainly have a part to play in this process.

As more State-owned enterprises are being required to reform their ownership, this means that large amounts of state assets will be sold off.

"That will provide room for Honeywell to expand, and many companies in China, which need technologies and funds to develop, may become our co-operation partners," she said.

(China Daily March 4, 2004)