Arkema opens expanded R&D hub in Shanghai

CHINA – Arkema, a French multinational manufacturer of speciality materials and chemicals, has expanded its Shanghai Research and Development Centre.

This development will elevate the facility’s capabilities and strengthen its strategic role as an innovation platform serving all of the Group’s businesses.

The expanded centre is designed to encourage greater collaboration among internal teams while enabling joint development with customers in China and throughout Asia. 

It aims to speed up innovation in advanced applications and support the successful rollout of high-performance, sustainable material solutions. The investment also forms part of Arkema’s broader strategy to strengthen its worldwide network of research and development laboratories.

During a visit to China, Arkema’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Thierry Le Hénaff, formally inaugurated the expanded facility together with the Consul General of France in Shanghai, representatives of the local government, customers, partners, and senior company management. 

Le Hénaff emphasized that China is Arkema’s second-largest market and one of the world’s most dynamic centers for innovation.

He noted that, as Chinese industries and customers continue to intensify their research and development activities, Arkema must further develop its local capabilities in order to remain closely aligned with their changing needs.

According to him, the upgraded Shanghai center will unite expertise from across the Group to co-develop advanced, sustainable Specialty Materials solutions with customers.

The Shanghai R&D Center was originally established in 2011 as Bostik’s Asia Technology Center, with an initial focus on adhesive solutions. 

Over the following fifteen years, it has built substantial expertise in materials synthesis, formulation development, and application-related validation. 

Through this work, the center has contributed innovations to several important markets, including high-speed rail, food packaging, and sustainable consumer products.

The expansion reflects Arkema’s “One Arkema” strategy, which seeks to draw on the Group’s wide-ranging materials expertise to reinforce its position as a preferred innovation partner. 

The project increases laboratory space by approximately 20% and introduces new collaborative areas, including an interactive showroom. 

This showroom will display Arkema’s Specialty Materials solutions and create opportunities for closer engagement with customers and partners. 

In addition, the expansion is expected to deepen the center’s connections with the local innovation ecosystem through partnerships with organizations such as the Shanghai Chemical Industrial Park and Green Support Industry (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., both of which maintain close links with start-ups and emerging technology companies.

Arkema also plans to continue expanding its local research and development network across key regions of China. 

Within the next two months, the Group expects to reach a new milestone in the modernization and scale-up of its battery materials laboratory capabilities at its Changshu R&D Center, an initiative that began earlier in the year. 

At the same time, Arkema is constructing a “One Arkema” laboratory in Guangzhou, which will focus on serving customers in the electronics and battery sectors.

On a global level, Arkema continues to enhance its innovation capacity through a highly extensive research and development network. 

Building on its distinctive strengths in materials science, Arkema provides a portfolio of leading technologies designed to meet rising demand for new and more sustainable materials. 

With the ambition of becoming a global leader in Speciality Materials, the Group is organised into three complementary, resilient, and highly innovative segments: Adhesive Solutions, Advanced Materials, and Coating Solutions. 

Together, these segments accounted for approximately 85% of Group sales in 2025. Arkema also maintains a Primary Materials segment, which brings together well-positioned large-scale industrial activities.

The Group develops advanced technological solutions to address major global challenges, including new energy, access to water, recycling, urbanization, and mobility. Arkema also emphasises ongoing dialogue with all its stakeholders. 

In 2025, the Group reported sales of around €9.1 billion (USD 10.22 billion), operated in approximately 55 countries, and employed about 20,700 people worldwide.

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