14 Oct 2009 11:18

3M starts operations at Shanghai manufacturing bases

Shanghai. October 14. INTERFAX-CHINA - 3M China Ltd. has started production at two new manufacturing bases in Shanghai Municipality, it announced on Oct. 14?

According to the announcement, one of the facilities will produce specialty materials and the other will make medical consumables. The specialty materials production base costs RMB 400 million ($58.57 million) to construct and is located within Jinshan Chemical Industrial Zone in Jinshan district. The 175,000 square meter base produces semi-manufactured specialty materials including adhesives for use in 3M China's other production bases in China.

Built at a total investment of over RMB 300 million ($43.92 million), the medical consumables manufacturing base is located in Pujiang High-Tech Park in Pudong district and occupies 50,000 square meters. The base is equipped with production lines for prosthetic dentistry devices, medical protective products, disinfection tools and disinfectants, test kits and other disposable medical consumables.

"The medical consumables manufacturing base is 3M Co.'s first facility in China producing medical products. The base will also be manufacturing products for export to Asia-Pacific countries," Wu Liang, manager of 3M China's medical products department, told Interfax.

"By building the base in China, we hope to develop and produce more localized products for the Chinese market especially as ongoing health care reform will offer good growth opportunities," Wu added.

Headquartered in the United States, 3M Co. currently operates 12 subsidiaries in mainland China including seven production bases, three technology centers and one research and development center. The company's medical products department is its second largest department, contributing 17 percent to 3M Co.'s global revenues annually.

-YCX