BASF expands China footprint with opening of Guangdong Verbund site
BASF will manage its operations entirely in-house.
CHINA – BASF has officially inaugurated its world-scale Verbund site in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province, southern China, marking a major milestone in the chemical industry.
The facility spans around four square kilometres and represents BASF’s largest single investment at €8.7 billion (USD 9.5 billion), with construction starting in 2019 and full completion targeted for 2030.
It employs over 2,000 people and produces a diversified portfolio of basic, intermediate, and speciality chemicals for sectors such as transportation, consumer goods, electronics, home care, and personal care.
The facility now runs 18 plants across 32 production lines, yielding over 70 products, with most output targeting local Chinese customers under BASF’s “local for local” strategy.
The complex runs entirely on renewable electricity, slashing CO2 emissions through Verbund collaboration, innovative processes, and green energy. It sets a global standard for eco-friendly chemical production by prioritizing digital efficiency and low-impact operations from the ground up.
At the March 26, 2026, ceremony with government officials, clients, partners, and staff, BASF CEO Dr. Markus Kamieth hailed it as a vision of chemistry’s future: efficient, digital, and sustainable by design, with industrial-scale smart integration.
This $10 billion project, BASF’s biggest investment ever, bolsters its foothold in China’s chemical sector.
Dr. Markus Kamieth, CEO of BASF, stated, “Bringing this site to life took real ownership, speed and an exceptional level of commitment from our BASF team. Completing a project of this magnitude and complexity on time and under budget is remarkable.”
“This investment shows confidence in the world’s largest chemical market in the long run and will be an important element of our ‘Winning Ways’ strategy.”
BASF first revealed the Zhanjiang project in 2018 and broke ground on it the next year. The initial facility to start up at the site was an engineering plastics plant in 2022, followed by a thermoplastic polyurethane unit in 2024.
Heading into the 2025/2026 transition, BASF launched production across the Verbund’s initial value chains and achieved a record-fast ramp-up for the steam cracker.
This integrated Zhanjiang complex marks BASF’s seventh Verbund site globally and its third-largest, trailing only Ludwigshafen in Germany and Antwerp in Belgium.
BASF has operated in Greater China for more than 140 years, now supporting nearly every major industry there.
The company maintains a robust network of production, sales, and R&D across major hubs like Shanghai, Nanjing, Chongqing, and Zhanjiang, plus various smaller locations nationwide.
In 2025, it generated approximately €8.2 billion (USD 8.9 billion) in sales to Greater China customers while employing close to 13,000 people.
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