Nov 8 2005
Bridgestone Corporation has announced that it would construct a new technical center in China. That followed a period of negotiations with Chinese authorities concerning the creation of an R&D site in the country. The new center will drive speedy R&D to ensure the supply of excellent quality raw materials to Bridgestone's production and sales companies in China.
The center will be built next to Bridgestone's Wuxi Plant, with operations expected to begin in July 2006. It will be capitalized with US$7.25 million (approximately ¥0.8 billion), while a total of US$14 million (approximately ¥1.5 billion) has been earmarked for investment in the project. It will be Bridgestone's fourth technical center worldwide following on from ones in Tokyo (Japan), Akron (USA) and Rome (Italy). At the new technical center in China, Bridgestone will evaluate the raw materials being supplied to the group's tire plants in China, with the aim of quickly boosting the applicability and quality of China's raw materials used in tires.
At present, Bridgestone Group's tire production bases in China include two tire plants for passenger cars (Tianjin and Wuxi) and one for truck and bus radials (Shenyang). Steady progress is also being made on the construction of a plant for truck and bus radials in Huizhou. Going forward, Bridgestone aims to strengthen its local research and development capabilities in line with rapid advancements in motorization in China. With the objective of continuously expanding business in the region, Bridgestone will create a consistent system from development to production and sales to enable quick response to diverse needs in the Chinese market.
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