Envalior unveils Customer Innovation Center in Hongqiao, China

• Envalior opened its Hongqiao Office and Customer Innovation Center in Shanghai, reinforcing its commitment to the Chinese market and establishing a core hub for Asia.
• The new center provides an immersive “materials + scenarios” experience, enabling co-development with customers in key sectors such as NEVs, E&E and consumer goods, while accelerating R&D, prototyping, and innovation responsiveness.
• Envalior aims to leverage China’s agility and global resources to drive material innovation, strengthen supply chain collaboration, and expand solutions to emerging Asian markets.

Shanghai, September 23, 2025 – Envalior, a global leader in engineering materials, announced today the grand opening of its first China-centred strategic hub for Asia – the Envalior Hongqiao Office and Envalior Customer Innovation Center – following its business integration. The launch of this centre strongly demonstrates Envalior’s commitment to “being close to the local Chinese market and customers.” It will enhance regional operational efficiency, accelerate innovation responsiveness, and further deepen value delivery to APAC customers. Jason Zhang, Envalior MD Asia, Caroline Mitterlehner, Envalior EVP Speciality Materials, Christophe Cazabeau, Envalior EVP Performance Materials, and key customer representatives attended the opening ceremony.

Amid the global trend of electrification and intelligent transformation in the automotive industry, Chinese automakers are reshaping the market with leading advantages. According to data from the Passenger Car Market Information Joint Committee (CPCA) of the China Automobile Dealers Association, new energy vehicles (NEVs) from China accounted for 68% of the global market share from January to April this year. Meanwhile, China’s growth model is shifting toward high-quality and sustainable development. As a fundamental industry, the chemical sector connects and supports energy, basic raw materials, and downstream segments, playing a crucial role in fostering new productive forces.

As a global manufacturer of sustainable and high-performance engineering materials, Envalior adheres to “green innovation” as its core mission. It is committed to developing smarter, safer, lighter, and more durable materials to help customers significantly reduce time costs, investment risks, and product carbon footprints. The newly unveiled “Envalior Customer Innovation Center” focuses on an immersive “materials + scenarios” experience, combining cutting-edge material samples and data demonstrations to embody the “customer-first” innovation philosophy intuitively. The centre showcases Envalior’s core innovations in NEVs, electrical & electronics, and consumer goods: from high-voltage connector materials ensuring safety and reliability in extreme environments, to lightweight component solutions that reduce weight and improve energy efficiency, to customised application cases co-developed to address specific pain points of Chinese customers.

“The improvement of internal efficiency must ultimately translate into customer value,” noted Jason Zhang, Envalior MD Asia, in his opening speech. Behind the global rise of Chinese enterprises lies their pursuit of excellence in suppliers’ innovation capabilities, response speed, and cost-effectiveness.

Mr. Zhang stated, “Through the Envalior Customer Innovation Center, combined with our backend agile operation system, we integrate customer feedback and market demands directly into front-end R&D and solution design processes. By leveraging concept verification, model manufacturing, and rapid prototyping, we achieve closer collaboration to drive innovation in speciality materials. This enables us to deliver more innovative and sustainable product solutions to society and the industrial chain, helping customers stand out in competition and laying a solid foundation for sustained growth.”

By deeply integrating its global product portfolio with localised R&D capabilities, Envalior has established technological barriers in key areas such as NEV thermal management and energy storage connectors. The launch of the new Customer Experience Centre serves as a core hub for Envalior to fulfil its commitment of “providing practical solutions when and where customers need them.”

A key local customer representative, was invited to co-unveil the centre, symbolising the launch of the Envalior Customer Innovation Center as an open collaboration platform. Its value lies in facilitating closer customer dialogue, accelerating joint innovation, and building a benchmark for collaborative innovation.

Currently, the global supply chain is undergoing restructuring, and China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have been each other’s largest trading partners for five consecutive years. Seizing this historic opportunity, Mr. Zhang said, “Envalior upholds the strategic philosophy of ‘In China, for China’ and ‘In China, for Asia.’ China is not only a strategic market for Envalior but also an engine driving the development of the entire Asia region.” He emphasised, “Envalior aims to leverage its global resource pool and China’s agility to drive Asian innovation at China’s speed. We plan to quickly replicate our successful experience in NEV lightweight materials and green composite materials from China to emerging markets such as Vietnam and India. By strengthening regional supply chain collaboration and opening up technology-sharing platforms, we will accelerate the integration of the Asian market. This ensures that our customers, wherever they are, can access Envalior’s leading material innovation support, thereby consolidating our strategic leadership position in Asia.” Mr. Zhang’s appointment as Envalior VP Commercial Asia in August 2025 also serves as a key signal of Envalior’s focus on China to drive the integration strategy of the Asian market.

The completion of the Envalior Hongqiao Office and Envalior Customer Innovation Center marks a crucial step in optimising Envalior’s layout in China and Asia following its integration. In the future, Envalior will continue to invest in material innovation based on this strategic hub, collaborate with customers and partners to drive industrial upgrading, and write a new chapter of sustainable growth in Asia.

About Envalior

Envalior is a global leader in Engineering Materials with over 4,000 employees worldwide. It was established in 2023 through the merger of Lanxess Performance Materials and DSM Engineering Materials. With a long track record of customer-driven innovation, Envalior specializes in developing Sustainable and High-Performance Engineering Materials, including PA6, PA66, PBT, PA46, PPS, TPC, PET, PA4T, PA410, and Thermoplastic Composites. Focus markets include Mobility, Electronics & Electrical, and Consumer Goods. For more information, visit www.envalior.com.