Bayer HealthCare will invest around EUR 100 million to significantly increase the production capacity of its plant in Beijing, China, in preparation for further demand of its products in the country. A respective agreement was signed in Germany on the occasion of the visit of the President of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping, by the CEO of Bayer AG, Dr Marijn Dekkers. The planned capacity expansion is designed to ensure a reliable supply of high-quality products to meet the domestic demand for Bayer HealthCare's products including the company's cardiovascular and anti-diabetes products. The expansion will include logistics areas for fully automated material handling, analytical laboratories, and high-speed packaging lines.
"The expansion of our Beijing site demonstrates our continuous strong commitment to the People's Republic of China," said Dr Olivier Brandicourt, CEO of Bayer HealthCare. "This investment will make Beijing the largest pharmaceuticals packaging site in Bayer HealthCare´s global production network."
Bayer is the fourth-largest multinational pharmaceutical company in China, with more than 7,000 employees and production sites in Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Qidong. The company has already established a center for research and development in Beijing with investments of around EUR 100 million.
For the Bayer Group, Greater China is the largest single market in Asia, accounting for sales of around EUR 3.7 billion in 2013. Currently more than 13,000 people work for the Bayer Group in China, which is also among the major focusses of the company's global investment.
About Bayer HealthCare
The Bayer Group is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, agriculture and high-tech materials. Bayer HealthCare, a subgroup of Bayer AG with annual sales of EUR 18.9 billion (2013), is one of the world's leading, innovative companies in the healthcare and medical products industry and is based in Leverkusen, Germany. The company combines the global activities of the Animal Health, Consumer Care, Medical Care and Pharmaceuticals divisions. Bayer HealthCare's aim is to discover, develop, manufacture and market products that will improve human and animal health worldwide. Bayer HealthCare has a global workforce of 56,000 employees (Dec 31, 2013) and is represented in more than 100 countries.