But Dow's investment in the area goes beyond capital projects and manufacturing plants.

The company is in the process of building a new facility in Zhangjiang Hi-tech Park in Shanghai, which will initially be a state-of-the-art research and development centre and a global information technology service and support centre.

The facility will create about 600 new jobs by next year.

The region has played a key role in China's growth and development over the past couple of decades, and Dow believes it has an even more important role to play in the country's new era of growth, according to McIlvenny.

"Meanwhile, we will continue to strengthen our production capacity to better serve our customers in the downstream performance market with a reliable, local supply well into the future," he added.

"We'll also continue to explore upstream and other investment opportunities and collaborate with partners to strengthen our leadership position in China."

Since entering China in 1989, Dow has invested over US$500 million in the country.

Besides the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta and the Bohai Bay Rim are also important markets for Dow in China.

As more customers explore new growth frontiers in other parts of the country, Dow is seeking to provide them with second-to-none support and solutions, McIlvenny said.

Dow is currently exploring a programme to convert coal to olefins and has signed an agreement with the Shenhua Group  China's largest coal producer  to study the feasibility of using coal gasification in a large-scale olefins plant.

China is now Dow's third-largest market behind the United States and Germany in terms of sales. The firm's Greater China revenue hit US$2.3 billion last year.

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