German technology group Schott launched a new pharmaceutical packaging plant in eastern China yesterday, targeting the high-end market.
Asked about the vision of the new facility, company executives put emphasis on exploring new markets, as industry watchers had indicated the domestic sector was already saturated.
"Our intention is not to directly compete with local suppliers, but to develop new high-class markets," Ralf Bouffleur, vice president for pharmaceutical packaging, told a media briefing before an inauguration event in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province.
Schott declined to reveal the investment figure for the new facility, which is capable of making 100 million ampoules and vials annually.
China is expected to become the fifth-largest pharmaceutical market by 2015 and No.1 by 2050, providing huge potential demand for packaging products.
In addition, Schott expected the new plant to help export-oriented Chinese drug makers better tap Western markets which require stricter standards, and the increasing multinational pharmaceutical companies that are expanding research and development operations in China, Chairman Udo Ungeheuer said.
China accounts for about 5 percent of Schott's global sales of 2.1 billion euros (US$3 billion), representing its second-largest market in Asia after Japan.
Schott develops and manufactures specialty materials, components and systems targeting markets ranging from appliances, pharmaceutical industries, solar energy, electronics, optics and automotive.
