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Released on March 18, 2004
DuPont opens R&D workshop DuPont, the United States-based science company, has started to build its China Corporate Research and Development (R&D) Center in Shanghai, with a planned investment of 124 million yuan (US$15 million). The new center, located in the Zhangjiang High-Tech Park in Pudong New Are, will accommodate up to 200 scientists and focus on technical marketing, with the aim of localizing the production of existing products in the Asia-Pacific market, according to the company. Due to open in early 2005, the Shanghai center will be DuPont's third comprehensive R&D facility outside the United States, the other two being in Europe and Japan. The Shanghai center is to "serve as a haven for new technology solutions" and to contribute to the company's sustainable rapid growth in the region. Currently, China is the fastest growing market for DuPont in the Asia-Pacific region, with an annual double digital growth for years. Investors digest wafer plan Chinese chip maker Shanghai Belling plans to buy a stake in a local chip firm, which is partly owned by Japan's NEC Corp, to help it build an eight-inch wafer fab. Shanghai Belling aims to spend about US$86 million to own at least 11 per cent of Shanghai Huahong NEC Electronics Co, which is eyeing a Hong Kong listing this year. Shanghai Belling plans to move to 8-inch wafers from the 4-inch ones to cut costs, as this will allow for the production of more chips per wafer. After Shanghai Belling's stake purchase, Huahong NEC will take over construction of the 8-inch wafer fab, located in the Zhangjiang High-tech Park.
Roche, one of the world's leading healthcare groups, will establish a research and development center in the Zhangjiang High-Tech Park of Shanghai's Pudong New Area. It will be Roche's fifth R&D center in the world and the first in a developing country, said Andreas Tschirky, who is expected to become the managing director of the R&D center. It will also be the first wholly owned and operated R&D center set up in Shanghai by a multinational pharmaceutical company. Roche's other four R&D sites are in the US, Germany and its headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. Scheduled to be fully operational by the end of the year, the Shanghai R&D facility will be staffed by 40 chemists. After the R&D center gains more experience within the next five years, it will become more active in participating in Roche's global projects. These may include projects of special concern to China, such as AIDS and hepatitis B. Traditional Chinese medicine will also be a key area of research in the future, according to Andreas Tschirky, who has been responsible for Roche's R&D in China for the last few years.
US high-tech giant Honeywell will plough a massive US$30 million into Shanghai's Pudong to set up the company's largest research and development center in Asia. The center, the only comprehensive one in the region, will develop new technologies and products available to its customers and manufacturers in China and other parts of the world. It is revealed that the first phase of the center, in the Zhangjiang High-Tech Park, will include a US$5 million special materials lab, which is expected to be operational by the middle of this year. Honeywell currently employs 22 subsidiaries in China with a total of 4,000 employees, having invested a total of US$500 million in the nation. It is said the firm is still looking for co-operation partners to
expand the Chinese market by launching more products. The R&D
center is just one part of the company's ambitious plan to invest
in the world's most populous nation. In their strategic thought, China
is a growth frontier for Honeywell, where it can find more opportunities
to expand
Pudong-based processing zone sets record in output value The industrial output value of the Jinqiao Export Processing Zone in the Pudong New Area of Shanghai soared 30 percent to set a new record of 103.8 billion yuan (US$ 12.5 billion) in 2003. The figure made up one third of Pudong's industrial output value and one tenth of the total industrial output value in Shanghai. More than 98 percent of the output value was gained by foreign-funded enterprises. The Jinqiao Export Processing Zone, with an area of 19 sq. km. in the center of the Pudong New Area, was built in November 1991 as the first export-oriented processing zone in China. In the course of the 13-year development, Jinqiao has attracted 568 Chinese and overseas enterprises with a total investment of US$ 11.1 billion. In 2003 alone, 42 domestic and foreign firms have settled in the processing zone, bringing in US$ 420 million. They include a number of big names such as the Swiss ABB Company, which poured US$17.5 million into building a factory for transformer production. Allured by handsome profits gained at Jinqiao, 14 foreign-funded
firms reinvested in the processing zone last year, with a total sum
of 160 million dollars. Maglev wins world's fastest commercial train Shanghai's maglev train will be included in the Guinness World Book of Records as the fastest commercially operating train in the world. The award ceremony has been held in Beijing on December 10, 2003, according to the Shanghai Maglev Development Co Ltd. It takes just 7 minutes, 20 seconds for the maglev to run the line's full 30-kilometre distance from Longyang Lu Station to Pudong International Airport. Since the end of last year when the train began trial runs, the line
has carried more than 20,000 passengers.
The Shanghai Arbitration Commission has set up an international arbitration center in the booming Pudong New Area to provide legal services to Chinese and overseas invested companies there. As a branch of the commission, the center will handle disputes related to international trade, finance and engineering as well as internal economic disputes of Chinese and foreign firms in line with internationally accepted practice. The center has a team of 430 well-grounded arbitrators, including professors of law, attorneys, economists, senior management professionals and veteran judges. Establishment of the arbitration center would help improve the investment environment of the Pudong New Area, said Jiang Sixian, vice mayor of Shanghai and governor of Pudong. Pudong New Area is home to over 10,000 overseas-invested enterprises that have brought more than 22 billion US dollars of contractual investment. Twenty-six multinational companies have set up regional headquarters in the district. In 2003, Pudong's foreign trade reached 58.1 billion US dollars, over a half of Shanghai's total. Telecom service center opens In an effort to better serve international customers, China Telecom launched its Global Services Center lately. The Global Service Center was established to meet ever-growing service and communication requirements from overseas customers. Insiders pointed out that China Telecom already has 90 per cent of the Fortune 500 companies as major international accounts, a rapid increase from five years ago. According to China Telecom employees, the center will be located in the downtown area of the city - in the Lujiazui Financial and Trade Zone in Pudong. It will mainly target multinational companies in Shanghai and other major cities in China. More than 120 agents will work in the center, offering the multiple-language service by phone. The center will operate 24 hours a day and seven days a week and its responsibilities include dealing with various service advice requirements, complaints and suggestions. The center will also deal with breakdown reports within international networks and pre-accepting requirements with some telecommunication services. Meanwhile, the center will conduct market research and investigations
for customers and pay return visits to customers in major cities all
over the country.
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