German chemical giant BASF said Thursday it expects sales in China to more than double within eight years thanks to fast urbanisation in the world's second-largest economy.

The largest chemical firm in the world aims to achieve sales of 29 billion euros ($36 billion) in Asia by 2020 and "roughly half of that is China", said Martin Brudermueller, vice chairman of the board of executive directors.

That will be more than double the company's 6.5-billion-euro sales last year in China -- the world's top chemical market.

"BASF is very much looking forward to increasing its share here," Brudermueller told reporters at a briefing.

He said the upbeat prediction was underpinned by fast urbanisation in China, where increasing consumption of goods is creating a huge demand for chemicals that are crucial in manufacturing.

The world chemical market will be worth $3 trillion by 2020 -- up 50 percent from now -- and half of that increase will come from China, Brudermueller said.

BASF announced in 2010 that it would devote half its total planned investments to China until 2014 -- or more than one billion euros.

The company employs more than 7,000 people in the country and has sites in Shanghai and the eastern city of Nanjing, with another one to come online in 2014 in the southwestern municipality of Chongqing.