History

At the end of 1885, 20 years after founding Badische Anilin- & Sodafabrik, a director by the name of Theodor Sproesser traveled to China. His job was to convince the Chinese of the benefits offered by our dyes. At the time, this was a very risky but ultimately successful endeavor. Almost everything has changed in China since then. BASF now achieves sales of around 5.5 billion euros and operates state-of-the-art factories in the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. We are the largest foreign investor in chemistry and cooperate closely with our local partners, especially Sinopec.

The birth of the chemical industry and the era of dyes

The Haber-Bosch process and the era of fertilizers 

New forms of high-pressure synthesis

A fresh start, and the dawn of the era of plastics

The road to becoming a transnational company

Sustainable Start to the New Millennium