SHANGHAI: Germany 's Schaeffler Group, the world's second-largest bearing producer, has inaugurated its largest Asian research and development (R&D) center in Shanghai .

The company also announced the official opening of its new plant in Taicang last week.

The new R&D center, located in suburban Shanghai's Anting town, an automobile industry community, is also the company's Asia-Pacific headquarters.

"We will ensure bilateral knowledge exchange between the new establishment in China and Schaeffler's other 30 R&D centers in the world," Maria-Elizabeth Schaeffler, partner of the family-owned company, said.

"Since this facility has just opened, we will transfer know-how from our established R&D centers in South Korea, Japan and Germany," Juergen Geissinger, Schaeffler's president and CEO, said.

The R&D center in Anting cost 220 million yuan and the Taicang plant cost 180 million euro. Most of its production is for China's domestic market.

Some 60 percent of Schaeffler's sales are from the automobile industry.

Because of China's strict emission control regulations, Schaeffler is working to reduce fuel consumption and emissions through innovative engine systems.

In China, Schaeffler's clients include not just multi-national companies, but also domestic brand names, such as Chery. The company hopes to increase its China exports from 14 to 25 percent in the next five years.

"We hope to have further development in China, as long as the market grows," said Gou Jianhui, managing director of Schaeffler Group China.

Schaeffler built its first plant in Taicang in 1998 and has more than 3,000 staff in China. The company had total sales volume of 8.3 billion euro globally in 2006.