Lafarge, a France-based Fortune 500 company, is taking over a gypsum company in Tai'an, East China's Shandong province.

Lafarge signed a cooperation agreement on Oct 22 and it will set up a new gypsum board production company in the city.

"We choose to invest in Tai'an because the city boasts abundant natural resources, convenient transportations and unparalleled environmental advantages," said Christian Devillers, Lafarge's former director general in China.

Tai'an has more gypsum reserves?- 24.8 billion tons?- than anywhere else in China as well as several gypsum processing companies with considerable production capabilities, a senior city official said.

"The city's resources greatly complement Lafarge's finance, technologies and market advantages, so it's a win-win deal," said the official.

By Hao Nan