The Chinese multinational company Wanhua has chosen Cornellà de Llobregat to open an innovation center that will represent its first investment in Southern Europe. The company, one of the largest in the chemical industry worldwide, plans to establish a new technical and business center in the city by the end of 2023.
Specifically, it will locate a laboratory and office space in Cornellà. The objective of this opening is to support the company's development in Europe, where it currently has a presence in Hungary and the Czech Republic. The company has ten factories, 27,000 employees, and 5,000 registered patents.
Wanhua is promoting this new center with the aim of developing new specific technical solutions for the European market. In addition, the Cornellà facilities will enhance its role as an innovation platform to generate new technologies and as a pole of attraction for talent. It will also provide timely technical service to European clients. The new opening was announced by the Minister of Business and Labor, Roger Torrent, after meeting with company executives in the Chinese city of Yantai.
In addition to its 5,000 registered patents, the company manufactures chemical products that include emerging materials for green energy, automotive, electronics, and construction. These are produced in factories located in China and also in subsidiaries in the United States, Japan, and Brazil. Now, this Cornellà center will be added to its facilities, in a project supported by the competitiveness agency ACCIÓ, of the Ministry of Business and Labor.
Torrent celebrated that the company has chosen Catalonia to develop its activity. "We are the chemical industry hub in Southern Europe," defended the minister, who is leading an institutional mission in the Asian giant. He highlighted that the objective of this trip is precisely to strengthen relationships and seek joint opportunities with companies considering investing in Catalonia.
Foreign investment from China in Catalonia has reached 1,164 million in the last five yearsThe institutional trip began a week ago in Hong Kong and will end on Friday, after having passed through areas such as Shanghai. Currently there are 114 Chinese subsidiaries established in Catalonia, and foreign investment from the country in Catalonia has reached 1,164 million euros in the last five years, which has translated into 2,100 new jobs.