Infineum has announced the establishment of its second Chinese wholly foreign owned enterprise, Infineum (China) Co., Ltd. at Zhangjiagang in Jiangsu province. This follows the establishment of Infineum (Shanghai) Additives Co. Ltd in September last year.

The ground-breaking ceremony of Infineum’s new blending plant at Zhangjiagang took place last Monday (28 April) in the Yangtze River International Chemical Industrial Park of Zhangjiagang Free Trade Zone. Executive Vice President of Infineum International, Trevor Russell and Infineum China Managing Director, Fu Limin, were joined by Yao Lin Rong, Secretary of ZJG Municipal CPC and Secretary of ZJG Free Trade Zone Party Work Committee, Zhu Li Fan, Deputy Secretary of ZJG Municipal CPC and Mayor of ZJG Municipal Government, Bian Dong Fang, Deputy Secretary of ZJG Free Trade Zone Party Work Committee and Deputy Director of ZJG Free Trade Zone Administrative Committee, Shao Jun Min, Vice Mayor of ZJG Municipal Government as well as President of China Tianchen Engineering Corporation Co. Ltd, Wang Zhiyuan.

Recently, Infineum and China Tianchen Engineering Corporation Co. Ltd formally signed the plant construction contract.

The blending plant is the first wholly Infineum-owned manufacturing base in China, and the first phase, occupying about 100,000 square metres, will formally start production by the end of 2015. The plant will produce lubricant additives mainly to supply China and the wider Asia Pacific market to meet the rapidly growing demand for lubricant additives in the whole region. As one of the key manufacturing centres of Infineum’s global manufacturing footprint, it will be equipped with Infineum’s global advanced quality system, world-class safety and environmental systems.

At last Monday’s ground-breaking ceremony, Zhu Li Fan, Deputy Secretary of ZJG Municipal CPC, and Mayor of ZJG Municipal Government said in his speech, “We are honoured that Zhangjiagang city has been chosen as Infineum’s manufacturing base in China. During several rounds of co-operative negotiation, we were deeply impressed by Infineum’s corporate culture of emphasising safety, environmental protection, energy saving, and pursuing high efficiency and high quality.

“Meanwhile, based on the rapid development of the Chinese automobile industry, we are confident that related high-tech innovative enterprises like Infineum will usher in a new round of opportunity for development in China.”

Trevor Russell, Executive Vice President of Infineum International commented: “China is undoubtedly the most rapidly expanding and dynamic fuel and lubricant market, and one that holds an enormous amount of opportunity for our customers. The establishment of Infineum Zhangjiagang blending plant caters to this trend, and strengthens our ambition to be the leading transportation additives company by 2020. For our developing strategy in China, our choice of Zhangjiagang as a manufacturing base is because of its unique geographic position and superior economic environment. It sets a solid foundation for Infineum production expansion and supply to China and the wider Asia Pacific market.”

Fu Limin, Infineum China Managing Director, added: "Today's ceremony marks the next stage in the implementation of Infineum's strategy in China and further consolidates our long-term relationships with customers in China and the wider Asia Pacific region.

“We also see this new plant as providing an opportunity to absorb and foster local talent to create a truly world-class team. Since the beginning of the project, a great number of local staff with excellent professional knowledge have been recruited.

“We also pay very close attention to the safety and quality of plant construction and equipment, so we chose China Tianchen Engineering Corporation Co. Ltd as our general contractor to guarantee the plant project is carried out smoothly. All the efforts made to date make us confident of the smooth implementation of the project and the successful operation of the plant in the future.”