French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi on Friday broke ground on a new insulin active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing base in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, with a total investment of 1 billion euros (about $1.16 billion).

Covering a floor area of nearly 60,000 square meters, the project marks Sanofi's largest single investment in China to date and is the biggest investment project in Beijing's pharmaceutical manufacturing sector. It is expected to be completed and put into operation by 2032.

Leveraging China's ongoing innovation-driven reforms, the base will become one of Sanofi's most advanced and digitally integrated manufacturing facilities worldwide, and it will fully implement green production practices, according to Brendan O'Callaghan, executive vice president of manufacturing and supply at Sanofi.

The new base, together with Sanofi's existing facilities in Beijing, Shenzhen and Hangzhou, will form a high-quality production network that stretches from API manufacturing to drug formulation, enabling the company to better serve China's health care needs, and to advance the prevention and management of diabetes with its local partners, said Wayne Shi, president of Sanofi Greater China.