Arkema announced the opening of the expansion of its Shanghai R&D Center, which will take the center to the next level and strengthen its strategic role as an innovation platform serving all the Group’s businesses.

The expansion includes an interactive showroom to showcase Arkema’s Specialty Materials solutions.

“China is Arkema’s second-largest market and one of the most dynamic innovation hubs worldwide. This upgrade of Arkema’s R&D Center in Shanghai will bring together expertise from across the Group to co-develop with our customers’ high performance, sustainable Specialty Materials solutions,” said Thierry Le Hénaff, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Arkema.

Thierry Le Hénaff, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Arkema, at the inauguration ceremony.

Broad materials expertise and innovation partner

Arkema’s R&D Center in Shanghai was originally established in 2011 as Bostik’s Asia Technology Center, focused on adhesive solutions.

Over the past 15 years, the center has developed strong expertise in materials synthesis, formulation development and application-relevant validation, bringing innovations to markets such as high-speed rail, food packaging and sustainable consumer goods.

This expansion illustrates the One Arkema strategy by leveraging the Group’s broad materials expertise to strengthen its role as a preferred innovation partner. It increases laboratory space by around 20% and adds new collaborative areas, including an interactive showroom, to showcase Arkema’s Specialty Materials solutions and foster closer engagement with customers and partners.

This expansion will also reinforce the interactions with the local innovation ecosystem, through partnerships with organizations such as Shanghai Chemical Industrial Park and Green Support Industry (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., which are closely connected to start-ups and emerging technology companies.

Ongoing R&D local network in China and the world

In China, Arkema will keep on developing its R&D local network in key regions.

In the coming 2 months, Arkema will reach a new milestone in the modernization and scaling-up of its battery materials laboratory capabilities, which started earlier this year, at its Changshu R&D Center.

Arkema is also currently building a One Arkema laboratory in Guangzhou, that will focus on electronics and battery customers.

More globally, Arkema continues to strengthen its innovation capabilities through a particularly dense global R&D network, that combines the expertise developed in China with that of the Group’s research centers in other parts of Asia, in Europe, and in the United States.