SHANGHAI, CHINA-The Federal Mogul Corp., a supplier of automotive powertrain and safety technologies, has just opened a new 97,000-square-foot Asia Pacific Headquarters and Technical Center here. The Southfield, MI-based firm said it built $20 million new facility to pursue and serve the Chinese automotive industry.

The company will employ 300 engineering, administrative and laboratory personnel at this new property, to completed advanced technology and product engineering. The new building is in the Pudong district of Shanghai.

President and CEO Jose Alapont said that China is a strategic market for the company, and for the automotive industry. “We believe in the long-term growth prospects of the increasingly sophisticated Chinese automotive market and other regional markets,” Alapont said. The supplier already has seven plant operations in the country, including two in Shanghai, two in Qingdao, one in Anqing, one in Nanchang and two in Wuhan.

The country’s automotive market, ranked as the world’s largest in late 2009, saw some slowdown with the global recession. However, government incentives in the latter part of the year boosted consumer demand back again to record levels.