With sales of $58 billion in 2008 and 46,000 employees worldwide, Dow is a diversified chemical company that combines the power of science and technology with the "Human Element” to constantly improve what is essential to human progress. The Company delivers a broad range of products and services to customers in around 160 countries, connecting chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help provide everything from fresh water, food and pharmaceuticals to paints, packaging and personal care products. On April 1, 2009, Dow acquired Rohm and Haas Company, a global specialty materials company with sales of $10 billion in 2008 and 15,000 employees worldwide.

Dow first entered China in as early as the 1930s. Today, Dow operates 5 business centers and 10 manufacturing sites across Greater China with 2,000 employees. The Company has invested US$900 million in Greater China to date. Dow’s 2008 revenue in Greater China was US$3.3 billion. Greater China is now Dow’s third largest market in sales, after the United States and Germany.  

Dow is committed to the development in China through enhancing local capabilities and building the regional business into a global hub. A new propylene oxide-based glycol ethers facility will soon come on line in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu province, where Dow is already operating world-scale Latex, Epoxy and Polystyrene plants. Dow Epoxy Systems recently established its first manufacturing asset in Wuhan, China, supporting the growing demand in market segments such as composites, wind and infrastructure. Dow has also announced plans to establish a world-class liquid epoxy resin plant and a glycerine-to-epichlorohydrin (GTE) plant in Shanghai. With Dow’s proprietary GTE technology, these plants will cut chlorine consumption in half and reduce waste water by ninety per cent compared with conventional technology.

In May 2007, Dow signed a Cooperative Agreement with Shenhua Group – China’s largest coal producer –and announced plans for a detailed feasibility study, bringing the two parties one step closer to building a world-scale coal-to-chemicals complex in Shaanxi Province. 

A new Dow Center has been built in Zhangjiang High-Tech Park in Shanghai and will be fully operational in April 2009. The new Center is comprised of a state-of-the-art research and development facility, a global information technology center as well as administrative and support facilities.  It will house up to 1,800 employees and will become a major business and innovation hub for Dow in Asia Pacific.

Dow is a globally respected leader in sustainability, and has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index eight times. Dow has also been an active contributor to sustainable development in China, and seeks to set the standard for sustainability through maintaining highest standard of environment, health and safety excellence, providing sustainable and innovative products and creating game-changing collaborations.