DuPont announced recently that it is to construct a $15 million corporate R&D facility near Shanghai to support growth in the Asia Pacific region.

The Shanghai R&D center will be the third major research facility for DuPont outside the United States, the others being in Switzerland and Japan, and will accommodate up to 200 scientists and include laboratories, offices and high-ceiling process bays for product application and development. The facility is expected to open in early 2005.

"The Asia Pacific region, especially China, provides unique growth opportunities for DuPont," said Chief Science and Technology Officer Thomas M. Connelly. "The new research and development centre has been specifically designed to meet the increasing demand of emerging DuPont technologies and products in the region. The Shanghai centre will serve as a haven for developing new technology solutions through application development, knowledge transfer, technical collaboration and new product development, all contributing to DuPont's growth in China and across the Asia Pacific region."