SHANGHAI -- Invista, one of the world's largest integrated producers of polymers and fibers, announced Thursday the opening of its first textile application research center in Shanghai.

It is the US-based company's fourth worldwide textile application research institution. The other three are located in the United States, Italy, and China's Taiwan province.

Construction on the 3,000-square-meter research center in Qingpu district of Shanghai, with a total investment of $7.3 million, began in May 2011 and was completed this July.

Building the research center is a milestone in Invista's strategic focus in China and will help accelerate the development and application of new fabrics, reduce time-to-market and enhance customer's competitive edge, said Dan Kotkin, executive vice president of Eastern Region of Invista Apparel.