ChemChina to focus on “scientific development”

State-owned China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina) said in its first Sustanability Report that scientific development will be the main focus of its next five-year plan (2012-2017). During 2006-2011, ChemChina put more than 12 billion yuan ($1900 million) into technology research, an annual increase of 14.5 percent. The company owns seven subsidiaries, including Aeolus Tyres, Guilin Rubber, Yiyang Rubber and the Xinghuo Organic Silicon Co, that are national technology centres.

In its head office, ChemChina has a department of science and technology, responsible for the reform and development of the “scientific and technological system” of the entire sector, the company said. Each of its specialised companies also has its own centre of R&D.

The company has 24 national-level research and design institutes, two key State laboratories, nine national engineering research centres, and more than 40 technical research centres.

The Chinese government has also approved postdoctoral R&D workshops at nine of its subsidiaries, which include the Tianhua Institute of Chemical Machinery and Automation, BlueStar Chengrand Chemical and Hebei Shenghua Chemical.

By the end of last year, the company had nearly 17,800 engineers and technicians, and more than 5,000 people involved in R&D, ChemChina said in the report.

The company, founded in 2004, reported that it has completed more than 1,600 major national scientific and technological projects. ChemChina said in its 2010 sustainability report published in June of this year that it aims to focus on research and development over the next years.