Merck: Will accelerate investment in the Chinese market

Recently, Allan Gabor, President of Merck China and Managing Director of the High Performance Materials Business China Region, stated at the "2020 China International Display Industry Summit Forum" held in Shanghai that as a dynamic technology company, Merck has always Abide by the long-term strategic commitment to China, unswervingly continue to invest in China, and ride the waves together with customers and partners. After the meeting, he explained Merck's strategic investment and layout in China in an interview.


Grasp the layout of the display material business

Angobo stated that 2020 is an important node for Merck's development in the Chinese market. Merck has proposed a new layout for 2020, aiming to further increase investment, expand market share, and elevate Merck's business to a new level.

Merck's financial report for the first quarter of this year shows that the high-performance materials business has grown rapidly. Despite the new crown pneumonia epidemic, China's display industry still shows very strong demand. Merck's LCD and photoresist production in Shanghai Jinqiao and Suzhou, Jiangsu have achieved very good growth. Thanks to the strong demand in home office and Internet of Things, the semiconductor business also shows a good growth momentum.

He said: "All this has laid a good foundation for Merck's new investment layout." He explained that in the field of display materials, Merck is investing in China to build local capabilities covering the complete value chain of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) materials, including Merck's OLED Technology China Center (Phase II), which will soon be expanded, and Merck's first OLED material production base in China, which will be opened in Shanghai this year. In the field of semiconductor materials, Merck has newly established an integrated semiconductor materials business unit in China this year, and is currently accelerating the introduction and construction of local related technology research and development capabilities, and plans to further increase investment and expand its business in China.

In order to achieve the new layout in 2020, in the display field, Merck established an LCD China Center in Shanghai in 2016 and a lithography material R&D center in Suzhou in 2017; in the semiconductor field, it completed the strategic acquisition of British Anzhi Electronic Materials in 2014. A leading global manufacturer and supplier, producing high-quality, high-purity specialty chemical materials for the rapidly growing electronics market. In September and October 2019, Merck completed the strategic acquisitions of Intermolecular and Versum at a price of 62 million US dollars and 5.8 billion euros respectively. This round of mergers and acquisitions and business integration has made Merck's high-performance materials business a leading global supplier of electronic materials in the semiconductor and display industries.


Confidence in the Chinese market remains unchanged

Agobo repeatedly emphasized that Merck has very firm confidence in the Chinese market and is unswerving in investing in China. He further explained that Merck has entered the Chinese market for 87 years and has grown up with the Chinese market and has a natural confidence in the Chinese market. Merck believes that China has risen in the field of display and electronic products, and is no longer a supplier, but has become a force in the development of the industry.

In the Chinese market, Merck has invested more than 800 million euros in various fields of life sciences, medical health, and high-performance materials. It has initiated a series of projects to accelerate Merck's localized R&D, application and production in the Chinese market.

He said: "Merck has a high degree of localization in China. Merck began to promote localization seven or eight years ago and has made gratifying progress. This work will continue." He said, taking OLED as an example. Gram has already seen that the Chinese market has very strong demand for OLEDs and expects this market to maintain a double-digit growth in the future.

At the same time, semiconductors and display materials will also have a very rapid development. Merck hopes that through localization efforts, it will further support the further development of the semiconductor industry in China and provide technical support, product development and application to local customers.