PARIS - French industrial and medical gas multinational, Air Liquide, announced on Tuesday it has signed a new long-term contract with Maoming Petrochemical Co (MPCC), a subsidiary of the Chinese oil giant Sinopec.

According to the contract, Air Liquide will invest about 40 million euros ($46 million)into a new Air Separation Unit (ASU) which will be located in Maoming city in the Guangdong province of China.

This new ASU, which will have a production capacity of 850 tons of oxygen per day, is expected to start operating in the second quarter of 2017, said Air Liquide in a press release.

The French giant added that the ASU will be owned and operated by ALMPCC, a joint venture established in June 2012 by Air Liquide China and MPCC.

Francois Venet, the company's vice-president of Asia Pacific and a member of Air Liquide group's executive committee, said, "Air Liquide has developed a strong business relationship with MPCC since 2012. This new agreement also illustrates our wish to develop our activities in China over the long term."

Lu Weiqun, deputy general manager of MPCC and vice-chairman of ALMPCC Board, also said that by combining Air Liquide's advanced technology and management expertise with MPCC's experience in the local market, ALMPCC has seen great successes in recent years.

"Through the new project, we expect ALMPCC to contribute more to the development of MPCC as well as to that of local economy," said Lu.