Amore Pacific on Monday held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new production and research facilities in Shanghai, which the company said will boost its efforts to expand Chinese business.

The cosmetics company says it plans to renovate its existing production center, which opened in 2002, and build new facilities on the 92,788 square-meter site in Jiading District, northwestern Shanghai.

When construction is completed in March 2013, the facilities will be the largest in China established by a Korean cosmetics maker. The company would not reveal how much the new facilities would cost. 

“The new Shanghai center will function as a hub for production, research and logistics. Through the facilities, we will pave the way to accelerate our business in the fast growing Chinese market,” CEO Suh Kyung-bae said.

The company said that the output capacity of the new facilities will increase to 7,500 tons per year, almost 16 times the current level, while an environment-friendly system also will be adopted to reduce CO2 emissions.

Amore Pacific, which established its Chinese branch in 2000, currently sells its products such as Mamonde, Laneige and Sulwhasoo at 640 department stores and 2,114 road shops in 159 cities across China.

The company logged 142.9 billion won ($123.6 million) in sales during the first half of the year, a 22 percent increase from a year earlier. Driven by its soaring Chinese sales, the company aims to become one of the world’s top 10 selling cosmetics companies by 2015.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)