The Eaton power management company opened its new Vehicle Group Asia Pacific Technical Center in Shanghai on 4 April.

Costing $3.3 million, the 1,200 sq. m. facility has seven large laboratories.

CEO Alexander M Cutler (pictured) said: “The new centre will drive the development and ‘product localisation’ strategy of energy- efficient vehicle power management solutions for the Chinese and regional markets. This new R&D facility will enable Eaton to better serve the high-growth Asia Pacific markets by bringing our innovative and energy-saving solutions closer to our customers. This also underscores our long-term commitment to China, which has been a major growth market for Eaton and continues to be of great strategic importance.”

Eaton now has six R&D and engineering centres in China, including a global corporate research and technology centre in Shanghai. The company established its first facility in China in 1993 — in Jining, Shandong Province.

Since then, it has expanded its presence to include 28 manufacturing facilities and more than 18,000 employees. It has set a sales target of $2 billion in China for 2015.