BASF in Greater China

At a glance

BASF has been a committed partner to Greater China since 1885. With larger production sites in Shanghai, Nanjing, Chongqing, and Zhanjiang (under construction), BASF is a major foreign investor in the country’s chemical industry, and operates the Innovation Campus Shanghai, BASF’s largest R&D site in Asia. BASF posted sales of approximately €9.4 billion¹ in 2023 to customers in Greater China and employed 12,115 people as of the end of the year.

Over the past 20 years, BASF has invested more than €10 billion in Greater China (approximately €14 billion with partners) to build a locally competitive production, marketing, sales, technical service and innovation network.

BASF currently operates 27 major wholly-owned subsidiaries, 11 major joint ventures, and maintains 25 sales offices in Greater China. BASF’s business in Greater China includes Petrochemicals, Intermediates, Performance Materials, Monomers, Dispersions and Resins, Performance Chemicals, Catalysts, Coatings, Care Chemicals, Nutrition and Health, and Agricultural Solutions.

1 Sales of BASF Group companies in the scope of consolidation, as of December 31, 2023. Sales of joint ventures and associated companies with BASF’s investment of between 20% and 50% in general which are consolidated at equity (e.g., BASF-YPC Company Limited) are not included.

BASF major sites in Greater China

An integrated site with global, regional and local activities for research and development, production, sales and marketing, and functional units

Location: Gaoqiao, Pudong, Shanghai

Key milestones:

Established in 1994
Became a wholly-owned BASF entity in 2000
Home to the BASF Greater China headquarters (legal entity since 2004; operations since 2012)
Innovation Campus Shanghai established in 2012, phase II inaugurated in November 2015
In 2023, Innovation Campus Shanghai phase III inaugurated
Operating nine production plants and a wastewater treatment plant by the end of 2023

Products: Advanced materials including Ultramid^®(polyamide, PA), Ultradur^® (polybutylene terephthalate, PBT), polyurethane systems, Elastollan^® thermoplastics polyurethane elastomers (TPU) and Cellasto^® (microcellular polyurethane), acrylic dispersions and copolymers colorants, detergent, metal complex dyes, leather auxiliaries, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), 3D printing materials and mobile emissions catalysts

A major production site with one wholly-owned company and three joint ventures

Location: Shanghai Chemical Industry Park, Caojing, Shanghai

Key milestones:

Established in 2002
First PolyTHF^® production in 2005
TDI/MDI commercial operation in 2006
Operating 16 production plants by the end of 2023

Major companies:

BASF Chemicals Co. Ltd. (wholly-owned)
BASF Shanghai Coatings Co. Ltd. (joint venture with Shanghai Huayi Fine Chemical Co., Ltd)
Shanghai BASF Polyurethane Company Limited (joint venture with Shanghai Huayi and Sinopec Gaoqiao)
Shanghai Lianheng Isocyanate Co. Ltd. (joint venture with several partners)

Products: Polytetrahydrofuran (PolyTHF^®), TDI (toluene diisocyanate), MDI (methylene diphenyl diisocyanate), polyisocyanate (Basonat^®), precious metals-based salts and solutions, automotive coatings, resins and electrocoat, polyamide polymerization, process catalysts and antioxidant

An integrated Verbund site jointly run by BASF and Sinopec (50-50)

Location: Nanjing Jiangbei New Materials High-Tech Park, Jiangsu

Key milestones:

Established in 2000
Commercial production since 2005
Inauguration of its second phase in 2012
Inauguration of its 2.8 phase in 2023
Operating 38 production plants by the end of 2023

Products: Low density polyethylene, ethylene-vinyl acetate, ethylene glycol, polystyrene, acrylic acid and acrylic esters, non-ionic surfactants, superabsorbent polymers, n-butanol, iso-butanol, 2-propyl-heptanol, butadiene, polyisobutene, etc.

2023 facts and figures

Total investment of $6 billion
2,173 employees
Sales in 2023: around €2.5 billion

A BASF wholly-owned production site for multiple products, including water-treatment monomers, amine products and coating additives

Location: Nanjing Jiangbei New Materials High-tech Park, Jiangsu

Key milestones:

Became BASF’s wholly-owned company in 2009, and renamed as BASF Specialty Chemicals (Nanjing) Co. Ltd. in 2011
Operating nine plants as of the end of 2023

Products: ACM, AGEFLEX^®FA1Q80MC, Anionic Flocculant, Cationic Flocculant, t-BA (tert.-Butylamine), DMAPA (3-(dimethylamino)Propylamine), PEA (polyetheramine), N-Octylamine A/P, 1,2-Propylenediamine, additives for painting, ink, coating and adhesive

A BASF wholly-owned production site for MDI (methylene diphenyl diisocyanate)

Location: Changshou Economic and Technological Development Area, Chongqing

Key milestones:

First MDI production in 2015
Completion of new steam methane reformer in 2018

Product: MDI (methylene diphenyl diisocyanate)

Built and operated under the sole responsibility of BASF. Upon completion, the site will be BASF’s largest investment and ultimately BASF’s third-largest site worldwide (following Ludwigshafen, Germany, and Antwerp, Belgium)

Location: Zhanjiang Economic and Technological Development Zone, Guangdong

Key milestones:

MoU signed in Berlin in July 2018
Commencement of the Verbund site project in November 2019
Started piling of the first plants in May 2020
Announced the inauguration of the first plant producing engineering plastics compounds in September 2022
Started the full construction of the core of the Verbund since September 2022
Announced the inauguration of the second plant producing thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) in January 2024

Investment: Around €10 billion in total

Plants and products:

The first engineering plastics compound plant came on stream in 2022, followed by the announcement of inauguration of the second plant producing Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) in 2024
The site is now focusing on building its core of the Verbund and is targeted for startup by the end of 2025