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Multinationals speed up R&D center establishment in China
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-02-12 15:13
BEIJING, February 12 (Xinhua) -- A long list of renowned multinational
companies, including Microsoft, IBM, Motorola, Siemens, Nortel, GE, GM,
Volkswagen and Honda have established research and development centers in China,
the Ministry of Commerce said.
"China encourages multinationals to establish R&D centers in China," said
Chinese President Hu Jintao at the national science and technology conference
held early this year.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce, about 750
foreign-funded R&D centers have been set up in China, which are mainly
located in such large cities as Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen.
Most foreign-funded R&D centers here are in fields of electronic and
telecommunications equipment manufacture, transport equipment manufacture,
medicine production and chemical industry, the Ministry of Commerce said.
Although most foreign-funded R&D centers are still focused on application
technology, some including that of Microsoft, Nokia, Bell-Alcatel and Panasonic
also conduct basic R&D work and have turned into global R&D centers of
those transnational business mammoths.
Dr. Li Wanlin, senior vice president of the Siemens (China) Telecommunication
Ltd., said that the establishment of Siemens China R&D centers is a vitally
important strategy for the German company's future development.
Multinationals have increased their investment in R&D centers in China by
a large margin as the market here becomes more important in their global
business strategy.
Some global business giants, such as GE, Philips, Motorola and Siemens,
invest tens of millions of U.S. dollars in R&D centers in China, the
Ministry of Commerce said.
Lu Zheng, a recognized economist who heads the Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences Institute of Industrial Economics, said, "By attracting more and more
localized foreign R&D centers, China moves up the hierarchy of the global
economy."
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