Four hundred jobs are to be created as New Zealand materials firm Fletcher Building announced plans to open a factory by the end of 2013 in Jiujiang, China, according to Chinese news agency Xinhuanet.com.

Mark Adamson, president and chief executive of Formica, the subsidiary of Fletcher due to operate the factory, tells Xinhua: “The commercial construction boom, coupled with the massive construction of government-subsidized housing projects, has accelerated the demand for laminate,” making it “already twice the size of the US market”.

Adamson adds that the facility would also be built with future growth in mind. Formica employs more than 3,200 people in Asia, Europe and North America.