January 25/China Knowledge Newswire -- BASF recently injected 1 million euros into an R&D center in Shanghai, which helped the city become one of BASF's global innovation bases, with focuses on personal care, pharmaceuticals and beverages, sources said.

The newly established R&D center is designed to meet China's growing demand and develop more suitable products and technologies for Asia consumers. The center will also explore Chinese traditional medicine, speed up the capsule and tablet production, and develop new functional beverages for thhe 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

According to BASF's forecasts, cosmetics sales will maintain double-digit growth in the next few years in the Asian market, particularly in relation to the booming Chinese market, and pharmaceutical sales will exceed $30 billion in 2010. In fact, the annual growth rate of China's beverage industry has been more than 10% in recent years.

From the February 4, 2008, Prepared Foods e-Flash