ExxonMobil Chemical broke ground Friday on a 70-million-dollar research and development centre in Shanghai that it says will refocus the global company on growth in Asia.

The company's first Asian research centre will open next year, employing about 200 staff to develop and test polymer and polyethylene-based compounds, according the company, part of US energy giant Exxon Mobil Corp.

"The centre will play a critical role in supporting the rapid growth of ExxonMobil's petrochemical business in China," company president Steve Pryor said at a ceremony.

The uses of polymer and polyethylene-based compounds range from clear, flexible films for packaging to rigid molded plastics, such as those used in child car seats.

The petrochemical industry has been hit hard by the economic downturn, which has led to a major contraction in manufacturing, but Pryor said the investment cut through the "peaks and valleys of the business cycle".

Growth in demand for such products is expected to outpace global economic growth by two to three percentage points, with the fastest growth in Asia, Pryor said.

By 2015, the region will account for half of global petrochemical demand and China will account for a quarter of world demand, he added.

ExxonMobil, along with and China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, the country's largest oil refiner, and Saudi Aramco have a joint venture refining and ethylene joint venture in southeast China's Fujian province.

"I am equally convinced that the (Fujian) venture will also be successful despite the near-term economic headwinds facing our industry," Pryor said.

China represents one tenth of ExxonMobil Chemical's business but its Asian production capacity is set to increase by 50 percent with the Fujian refinery starting and its Singapore complex's capacity doubling, said Bob Davis, ExxonMobil Chemical's head of global technology.

The Shanghai research centre will be the company's third largest after similar facilities in Brussels and Baytown, Texas, Davis said.

"This is a significant milestone, it affects our global footprint and reorients it to the Asian market," he said.

ExxonMobil will further be helped by the Chinese government's recent moves to relax its control on fuel prices to bring them closer in line with market prices, ExxonMobil (China) Investment Co chairman Paul Theys said.

"This whole gradual move of the fuel market to a free market is something we very much welcome," he said.