Having reported healthy growth to the tune of 10 percent in China last year, Givaudan is upping the ante with a new fragrance facility planned for Changzhou National High-Tech District (CND).

The Swiss flavors and fragrances giant signed an investment agreement to set up the new manufacturing base with a registered capital of US$34.2 million in January. Total investment is set to reach US$99.8 million.

“After considering a number of Chinese cities, Givaudan finally chose CND as the optimal locale for its new fragrance facility in China and has strong confidence in the upcoming CND project. As an industry leader, Givaudan is very optimistic about the future of the Chinese market. The CND project, a large investment for Givaudan, is expected to lay a sound foundation for the company’s development in the market. We hope to start and complete the construction of the facility as soon as possible with the support of the local government. And Givaudan is confident in bringing in more investment opportunities in the future,” said Willem Mutsaerts, Head of Global Procurement at Givaudan.

The news comes on the back of the launch of a dedicatedwebsite for the Chinese market, indicating that Givaudan is channelling significant resources into future growth in China, although CEO Gilles Andrier remains cautious. “We are back to the normalized growth rate that we’ve seen over the past years. Obviously we have to be careful looking ahead. There are uncertainties in China, but there are uncertainties in many parts of the world,” he told Reuters in an interview following the company’s full year results.

Worldwide sales were up 2.7 percent overall, to CHF4.4 billion on a like-for-like basis, while net income rose 12.7 percent to CHF635 million year-on-year.