US information technology (IT) giant EMC Corp on
Friday said it plans to invest US$500 million in China within five years to
better tap into the local market.
EMC, the world's largest provider of data storage and information management
solutions, competing with companies such as Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Hitachi,
entered the China market 10 years ago by setting up an office in Beijing.
Between 2001 and 2005, EMC invested about US$150 million in the country,
according to chairman and chief executive officer Joseph Tucci.
"A large portion of the US$500 million investment will be spent on research
and development (R&D) activities in China," he said.
The aggressive investment plan confirms a trend that major global technology
firms are increasingly transferring R&D activities to China.
As part of the new investment plan, EMC will launch an R&D centre in
Shanghai next month, the first of its kind in China.
Previously, EMC partnered with leading Chinese software maker Neusoft in
R&D activities.
The new centre will recruit about 100 R&D engineers and plans to expand
the workforce to 500 by 2008.
"A primary focus of the Shanghai R&D centre is to provide software
solutions for the global market, as well as localization of offerings for the
Chinese market," Tucci said.
And EMC will "open other centres in China over time."
EMC, one of the top 10 IT companies in the world, earlier this week also
announced it would invest US$500 million in India by 2010.
Globally, EMC already has more than 20 R&D facilities, with four in
India.
The Shanghai R&D centre will be one of the largest, together with similar
facilities in the United States and India, said Charles Fan, vice-president of
EMC and general manager of the China R&D centre.
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