LG Chem on Wednesday opened its first Chinese tech center aiming to respond more promptly to local demands in the all-important market.

The two-story building with one basement is located at a 4,000 square-meter site in Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong Province in southern China. A total of 10 billion won ($8.8 million) was invested for the construction alone.

Some 40 researchers, including those hired locally, will be working at the new facility to offer total solutions for product development and improvement and productivity growth. 

The company said it is rare that a chemicals company has established a separate tech center, not a manufacturing plant, for customer support only.

Following its first tech center built in Daejeon in 1995, the company has come up with the second center as it is beefing up production of IT products, home appliances and automotive parts in the soaring Chinese market.

Last year, LG Chem raked in more than 40 percent of its total revenue, or about 10 trillion won, in China, the company’s largest market.

With the new tech center opening up, the company hoped to offer more prompt and quality services to Chinese clients.

The company predicted the response time will be cut in half while doubling product sales to an annual 300,000 tons from the current 200,000 tons.

The company plans to extend partnership with clients as it shares more technologies and develop new products together.

Along with equipment investment, the company also pledged to hire more local talents. The number of researchers will be increased to 120 next year from the current 100.

“With the new tech center, we can respond to technological problems facing Chinese clients more accurately and promptly,” said LG Chem CEO and vice chairman Park Jin-soo at the center’s opening ceremony.

“The center will play a key role for us to offer clients better services and lead the soaring Chinese market.”

Starting with a polyvinyl chloride production plant in Tianjin in 1995, LG Chem has expanded its presence in China. The company currently operates 13 subsidiaries in the country. 

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)