On June 1, Sika’s Asia-Pacific Coatings Innovation Center was officially opened in Shanghai Jing’an North Hi-Tech Park. This is an important strategic move for Sika to establish a foothold in China and deepen its presence in the Asia-Pacific.
Through localization of R&D, refinement of technology, and localization of results, Sika continues to consolidate its industry voice in the field of high-end coatings and waterproofing.
Looking at Sika’s R&D layout in China over the years, the establishment of this new center has established an innovation system with a clearer hierarchy and more precise division of labor. This is Sika’s fourth global R&D center in China.
It is worth mentioning that the new Asia-Pacific Coatings Innovation Center is located adjacent to the Sika Construction and Decoration Materials China R&D Center that has been established in the park. The industrial value of this clustered R&D layout is very prominent.
The two major R&D platforms can share experimental equipment, testing standards, technical teams and industry resources, and carry out regular collaboration in areas such as waterproof composite coating research and development, localized optimization of coating formulas, polishing of special scene application processes, and product durability performance testing.
For the new materials industry, the breakthrough value of a single technology is limited. Multi-technology integration, multi-category adaptation, and multi-scenario verification can truly solve the industry’s pain points. Sika’s cluster R&D model just opens up technology islands, greatly compresses the cycle from R&D, testing to implementation of new products, and effectively reduces the cost of technology iterations.
At the opening ceremony, Sika China President Zhang Yejiong’s speech clearly conveyed the strategic tone of the company’s long-term development in China.
Different from the staged and tentative investment layout of some foreign-funded enterprises, Sika’s layout in China has strong continuity and implementation.
In recent years, Sika’s second largest R&D center in the world has settled in China, the construction of the first zero-carbon factory has been accelerated, and a new material production line for new energy vehicles is about to be put into production. Coupled with the opening of the coating innovation center, a series of projects are progressive and mutually supportive, covering the three core dimensions of R&D innovation, green production, and emerging track layout.
This series of actions is enough to prove that Sika has long positioned the Chinese market as the core growth pole and source of innovation in its global strategy, rather than a simple product sales market.
From the perspective of R&D positioning and hardware strength, the new center has completely gotten rid of the shortcomings of traditional laboratories that “focus on testing and neglect implementation”.
The center is equipped with a full set of internationally advanced performance testing, weather resistance simulation, formula debugging, and environmental testing equipment. The center focuses on three major categories: water-based polyurethane coatings, oil-based polyurethane/epoxy coatings, and water-based architectural coatings. All R&D categories focus on core needs such as building waterproofing, industrial anti-seepage, equipment moisture-proofing, and outdoor weather resistance.
Most coating research and development on the market only focus on decorative and protective properties, but Sika’s research and development logic is more in line with engineering reality, taking waterproofing, anti-seepage, and long-lasting protection as the core underlying properties of coating products, making coatings no longer a single decorative material, but a protective barrier for construction and industrial systems.
In order to adapt to the rapid iteration needs of the domestic market, the new center has fully introduced a digital R&D model.
Traditional new material research and development relies on experience and trial and error, which results in long cycles, high costs, and low accuracy. However, Sika achieves accurate and controllable research and development processes through digital formula simulation, big data market demand analysis, and intelligent performance testing.
Relying on this system, the R&D team can specifically develop coatings and waterproofing products that adapt to China’s complex climate environment, domestic construction standards, and green building regulations, and solve the common industry problem of imported products being “acclimated”.
At the same time, localized innovation results will be exported to the Asia-Pacific and even global markets, forming an innovation closed loop of “China R&D, global sharing”, making China an important export destination for Sika’s global coatings and waterproofing technologies.
Sika’s ten years of intensive development in Jing’an is a typical example of symbiosis and mutual prosperity between foreign-funded enterprises and local governments and enterprises.
In 2014, Sika officially settled in Shibei High-tech Park. Over the past ten years, it has continued to integrate resources and implement business, and gradually built a complete business matrix covering management, R&D, marketing, and services.
In 2023, Sika BFM China’s Shanghai headquarters will renew its contract and take root, becoming a benchmark case for economic upgrading of the park’s headquarters.
The high-quality local business environment and science and technology innovation policies have provided a solid guarantee for Sika to continue to intensify its innovation. Sika’s continued in-depth development has also led to the improvement of the regional new materials industry and the accumulation of technical talents, forming a good situation of two-way empowerment and long-term win-win. This is also the core confidence for Sika to continue to intensify its innovation in Jing’an.
In September 2025, Sika’s Pinghu production base completed the capping of all single structures and officially entered the preparatory stage for production. This is not only an important breakthrough for Sika’s production capacity layout in China, but also a key step for it to deeply explore the high-end waterproofing and coatings tracks and make up for the shortcomings of high-end new material production capacity in the Asia-Pacific.
At this point, Sika’s industrial structure in China of “R&D in the upstream, production capacity in the downstream, full technology coverage, and full scenario adaptation” has officially taken shape.
As the core strategic project of Sika Group in China, the investment scale, production capacity and technical standards of the Pinghu base are all at the leading level in the industry.
The project has a total investment of US$100 million, equivalent to about 710 million yuan, and covers an area of 100 acres. It is planned to produce 141,300 tons of high-performance environmentally friendly adhesives and coatings products annually. After reaching full production, the annual output value can exceed 4.3 billion yuan. It will become Sika’s largest modern production base in China.
Different from ordinary building materials production bases, the Pinghu base focuses on high-end, green, and high value-added products, abandoning low-end homogeneous categories in the industry. Its core production capacity focuses on high-end products such as waterproof materials, waterproof protective coatings, high-end floor materials, and special adhesives, accurately targeting segments of the industry with high prosperity and high barriers.
Since the project started in December 2024, the construction progress has been steadily advancing. As of June 2026, an investment of 300 million yuan has been completed. The main project, production workshop, R&D testing center, and environmental protection supporting facilities have all entered the final stage.
For the new materials industry, the core value of production capacity is not only an increase in output, but also an upgrade in supply chain stability and market response speed.
Previously, domestic high-end waterproofing and special coating products mostly relied on imports or overseas deployment, with long supply chain cycles, high costs, and unstable delivery. The establishment of the Pinghu base will completely change this situation, realize localized mass production of high-end waterproof new materials, significantly shorten the delivery cycle, reduce regional supply chain costs, and provide solid production capacity support for the implementation of Sika’s global sustainable development strategy.
In terms of product layout, the Pinghu base is deeply in line with the needs of domestic industrial upgrading and has built a multi-category, integrated high-end new material product matrix, covering five core categories of fire retardant coatings, silicone adhesives, floor coatings, high-performance adhesives, and a full range of waterproof materials.
Among them, waterproof materials and waterproof protection systems are the core advantage categories of the base, and they are also Sika’s core competitiveness that differentiates it from its peers.
The waterproofing products mass-produced by the base are not ordinary waterproofing materials commonly available on the market, but high-end customized products that are suitable for extreme working conditions, long-lasting, and environmentally friendly. They include a full range of categories such as polymer waterproofing membranes, cement-based permeable crystalline materials, polyurethane waterproofing coatings, industrial epoxy anti-seepage systems, and roof-specific waterproofing systems. They can fully cover the differentiated waterproofing needs of civil buildings, industrial plants, super infrastructure, and new energy scenarios.
