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Dow is a leader in science and technology, providing
innovative chemical, plastic and agricultural products
and services to many essential consumer markets. With
annual sales of $46 billion, Dow serves customers in
more than 175 countries and a wide range of markets that
are vital to human progress: food, transportation,
health and medicine, personal and home care, and
building and construction, among others.
Dow first entered China as early as the 1930s and has
since been leveraging its global capabilities and local
expertise to serve the ever-changing needs of customers
and stakeholders in the country. Today, with regional
headquarters in Shanghai, Dow operates five business
centers and 10 manufacturing sites across Greater China
with close to 1,400 employees, and is aggressively
recruiting to drive rapid growth.
Dow’s 2005 revenue in Greater China was US$2.3
billion. Greater China is now Dow’s third largest
market, behind the United States and Germany.
Dow has so far invested over US$500 million in the
country and has recently announced, within a Letter of
Intent, that it expects to invest an additional US$200
million in new facilities in the Zhangjiagang Free Trade
Zone in Jiangsu province, where it is already operating
state-of-the-art world-scale Latex, Epoxy and
Polystyrene plants. The company is also exploring a
program to convert coal-to-olefins and has signed an
agreement with the Shenhua Group – China’s largest coal
producer – to study the feasibility of using coal
gasification in a large scale olefins plant.
In addition, a new Dow Center is being built in
Zhangjiang High-Tech Park in Shanghai, China as
announced in August, 2005. Covering an area of over 65,
000 square meters, the new Center will initially be
comprised of a state-of-the-art research and development
(R&D) facility as well as a global information
technology (IT) center, with plans to include other
service and support facilities at a later stage. About
600 new jobs will be created by 2007.
Strongly committed to the principles of sustainable
development, Dow and its 42,000 employees seek to
balance economic, environmental and social
responsibilities. Dow has also been an active
contributor to sustainable development in China. For
instance, in March 2005, Dow partnered with the State
Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) to launch
a 3-year, national pilot project to support and promote
cleaner production in China. In October 2005, Dow joined
hands with the State Administration of Work Safety
(SAWS) for a 3-year national project to promote safe
management of hazardous chemicals in China. In addition
to the RMB12 million funding support already committed,
Dow has also formed working teams with both SEPA and
SAWS to contribute its global skills and expertise for
the success of the projects.
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