In the second tower of downtown Shanghai's Plaza 66 - housing top fashion brands Louis Vuitton and Salvatore Ferragamo Applied Biosystems, a leading supplier of life science products and solutions, unveiled its largest application support center in the Asia-Pacific on Wednesday.

The facility houses five demonstration labs, featuring state-of-the-art instruments and applications. The key applications span the life science continuum, including pharmaceutical and biotech research, healthcare and clinical research, forensic analysis to aid criminal investigations, and environmental and food safety testing.

Tony White, chairman, CEO and president of Applera Corp, the parent company of AB, called the opening "a milestone in the company's history".

"The opening of the center reflects our commitment to the market in the long term. ... During about 20 of our company's 25 years of history, China has been an important part of our development," White said.

He said the Shanghai center would enable the company to better serve its customers in Asia-Pacific and China, and enhance collaboration on government initiatives such those coming from its association with China's Ministry of Public Security.

Although China now accounts for only 2.5 percent of AB's sales, the growth is much faster than its other worldwide markets. "I will be satisfied if it's 20 percent of our sales," White said, adding that he is very optimistic about "one of the world's most vibrant and growing markets".

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