China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina) on Friday announced plans to build an international base for researching and developing advanced chemical materials.

Construction will start in 2009 in Tianjin, a northern port city.

ChemChina is investing 8 billion yuan (US$1.17 billion) in the first phase of the project.

It will have a floor space of 7.8-square-kilometers, said Guo Youzhi, head of the asset operation department of the company.

Guo said the manufacturing base is a joint venture. He declined to disclose the names of other investors.

Total construction costs as well as a completion date were not available.

"On completion, we will invite 100 top domestic chemical material producers and 100 leading overseas companies to set up labs at the base," ChemChina general manager Ren Jianxin said. "In this way, we can speed up the overall development and restructuring of China's chemical materials industry."

Ren added, the new base will be in line with a 2006 government campaign aimed at reducing energy consumption and cutting greenhouse emissions.

It will be used to research, develop and apply materials such as silicon and membrane in an environmentally friendly way.

Silicon is essential to the production of solar batteries, while membrane materials are used in fields like desalination and waste-water treatment.

As the nation's largest chemical materials supplier, ChemChina's silicon production ranked third in the world.

(Xinhua News Agency November 1, 2008)