Intel gets aggressive in China

SAN FRANCISCO Intel Corp., said that it plans to spend $375 million to build a new assembly and test plant in western China that is slated to begin operations in 2005 or 2006.

Construction on the plant in Chengdu, in Sichuan province, will begin in the second half of 2004 and is expected to be completed in 2005, said Chuck Mulloy, a spokesman at Intel, the world's largest chip maker.

The company plans to invest about $200 million initially, to be followed by $175 million over a period of time, and to employ about 675 people, mostly hired locally, he said.

Intel already has a testing and assembly plant in China, in Pudong, outside of Shanghai, and has invested $500 million there since it opened in 1999, according to Mulloy.

About 40 percent of Intel's sales come from the Asia-Pacific region, making it the largest geographic segment for the Santa Clara, California-based company.

"China has been our fastest-growing market for the last couple of years," Mulloy said.

Other Intel assembly and test plants are located in Costa Rica, the Philippines and Malaysia.

Earlier on Tuesday, Intel launched a $40 million design and development center in Penang, Malaysia. At the opening, Chief Executive Craig Barrett said Intel planned to invest in China, India and Russia for "new growth" next year, and would also expand existing facilities in Malaysia and the Philippines.

© Reuters