CHENGDU, China - On August 20, AkzoNobel broke ground on its new Decorative Paints site in Chengdu, capital city of Sichuan Province, China. The facility is part of an investment in excess of €50 million to build manufacturing facilities for both Powder Coatings and Decorative Paints.

Located in Qionglai Yang’an Industrial Park, the new site – the company's fourth plant for decorative coatings in China – occupies an area of 55,000 square meters. The first phase is scheduled to be opened in 2016, with full operations expected by 2017.

Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, AkzoNobel CEO Ton Büchner said, "Our investment in this new site is further proof of our ongoing commitment to China, which is one of our most strategically important markets. Establishing this new facility also gives added momentum to our organic growth ambitions, as well as enabling us to continue expanding our manufacturing footprint in Asia."

The new site will comply with the company's highest sustainability and HSE&S standards. Due to be equipped with state-of-the-art production facilities, it will manufacture the full range of AkzoNobel’s Decorative Paint offerings and market them in China.

In addition to building the new plant, the company is also donating RMB 1.5 million to help fund the creation of 10 "Adream Centers" in Qionglai. These centers are designed to improve the quality of education for children – one of the key focus areas of AkzoNobel’s Human Cities initiative, which was launched in June.