AS China plans to remove tax breaks for imported machinery for foreign firms, DuPont Co is pushing ahead with talks on new investments that will lift its total stake in China to about US$1 billion by 2000.
The US industrial chemical giant has signed letters-of-intent to carry out feasibility studies for three joint ventures - two in Shanghai and one in Liaoyang in Liaoning province.
They would require a total investment of about $300 million if they materialised.
It has another 10 to 15 projects in different stages of development, several of which could yield agreements by the end of the year.
Alex Campbell, head of DuPont's China, Hong Kong and Taiwan operations, said: 'We now have investments of up to $300 million in China.' The investments are in three wholly-owned facilities, eight joint ventures and five offices. He said one letter-of-intent was signed with listed company Shanghai Chlor-Alkali to look into the feasibility of producing Teflon.
'DuPont is the largest producer of Teflon in the world, and Chlor-Alkali the largest producer in China,' he said. 'Compared to what is produced on a world-scale, Chlor-Alkali's production is pretty small.' It is also talking to Shanghai Coking Co to produce acetal polymer and to another Chinese partner in Liaoyang to produce nylon polymer.
'If we can get agreements we can start up in 1998 or 1999,' he said.