Mortsel (Belgium), 18 May 2001 - TheAgfa-Gevaert Group, Mortsel/Belgium, today opens its new Operation Center in Shanghai in the presence of Dr Klaus Seeger, CEO of the Agfa-Gevaert Group. This new organization is directly responsible for all sales, service and logistics activities in the People's Republic of China. It will durably strengthen Agfa's position in China. Besides a production site Agfa only had sales representations in China until now, which depended on the Agfa organization in Hongkong. "For Agfa, the Chinese market is becoming more and more important. The country strives to join the WTO (World Trade Organisation) in the near future. This entry will lead to a heavier demand of quality goods and services, together with a growing interest in global brands. Being a high-tech company, we want to exploit and support this development", said Dr Klaus Seeger at the opening of the Operation Center. Since 1985, Agfa has had sales representations in major Chinese cities like Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. The joint venture Agfa (Wuxi) Film Production Co., Ltd, was founded in 1995. This joint venture processes among others color paper, color film, medical X-ray film, other films and chemicals. Agfa has a share of 99% in the joint venture, which was renamed to Agfa (Wuxi) Imaging Co in the meantime. The new operation center is based on the legal entity of Agfa (Wuxi) Imaging Co., Ltd. "The establishment of an operation center for China is a milestone in the development of Agfa in China. The fact that we will be closer to the market and the clients will have positive results for all parties", said Dr Seeger. Agfa has more than 300 employees in China. The main focus is on the expansion of the medical imaging and graphic systems business. Therefore preparations are currently under way to investigate the feasibility of a printing plate production facility in Wuxi.