The new facility - to be called the Lonza Guangzhou Research and Development Centre - will be focused on research and development of active substances and intermediates for chemical custom manufacturing.
The laboratories, which Lonza says are equipped 'to the latest standards', employ 10 staff at present, but staffing will be expanded throughout 2005.
Lonza has a history of operating in Guangzhou, having produced niacinamide, a B-vitamin, there since 1999. The Swiss company recently announced that it has started building a new niacinamide production plant there.
The new plant is planned to go on stream in the spring of 2005. Lonza currently employs 220 people in China.
Lonza, which generated sales of SF 2.24 billion (€1.46bn) in 2003, operates 18 production and R&D facilities in eight countries and employs 5660 people worldwide.
The company specializes in the custom manufacture of chemical intermediates and active ingredients as well as biopharmaceuticals for the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries, and also offers organic and polymer intermediates.