Exxonmobil Chemical's hub, which will have an initial investment of 70 million dollars and is expected to open in 2010, will provide technical advice and laboratory support to customers in Asia, the company said.

"The decision to build a technology centre in Shanghai reinforces our long-term commitment to China and the region," Steve Pryor, president of ExxonMobil Chemical, said in a statement.

"The new investment will support our growing sales of premium products by providing innovative solutions to customer needs."

The company expects Asia to account for around 60 percent of the world's petrochemical growth over the next 10 years, according to the statement.

ExxonMobil is expanding in China with a recent joint venture operating 750 service stations and another building and operating a petrochemical refinery in the southeastern province of Fujian.

The ventures, worth about five billion dollars, are co-owned by ExxonMobil, Saudi Aramco and China's largest oil refiner, Sinopec.

China is one of the world's biggest energy users, with consumption of oil products rising 11.9 percent to 215 million tonnes in 2008, despite the slowdown brought about by the global crisis.

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Singapore (AFP) March 16, 2009
Measures to help ease climate change should be integrated into massive stimulus packages aimed at fighting the global economic crisis, environmental groups and government officials said.