The Emerson Process Management Co Ltd, a business of US-based Emerson, has announced an investment of $30 million to establish a production base in Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu Province.

The Asia Flow Technologies Center will be the company's sole production base in Asia and the fourth of its kind after the company set up similar units in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

China has become Emerson's second largest market after the United States, and building a production base in China is part of the company's strategy to cater to the growing market in the Asia-Pacific region, said Mike Train, president of the Emerson Process Management Asia-Pacific.

The production facility, located in the Nanjing Jiangning Science Park, covers about 12,500 square meters. It is expected to be complete in 2008.

The plant will focus on production of process control equipment, including flow meters, density meters and ultrasonic devices, said Joe Vaszily, president of the company's Daniel measurement and control operations, adding that the company will try to localize its operations.

As a diversified global technology company, Emerson first licensed technology to China in 1979 and opened its first factory in the country in 1992. It has invested in more than 40 plants and research centers in China.