Samsung to focus on advanced manufacturing in China

An employee works at Samsung's Bioepis lab in Incheon, South Korea.[Photo/Agencies]

South Korea's Samsung Group is increasing its investment in advanced manufacturing in China, as a new electronics material factory in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, is expected to open in the second half of this year.

Built with an investment of $240 million, the factory will produce polarized film and photovoltaic paste. It will produce 34 million square meters of polarized film a year, which is mainly used in large-screen LCD TVs. Photovoltaic paste, which is a key material in solar cells, will achieve mass production in July－starting with 40 metric tons per month with plans to rise to 100 tons.

Statistics from market consulting institute IHS Inc showed that the global market scale of polarized film is estimated to reach 425 million sq m in 2020, up from 312 million sq m last year, amounting to 6 percent growth, but the Chinese market will grow more than 16 percent annually.

The Wuxi factory will deepen cooperation with solar cell manufacturers in China.

Samsung has stepped up its efforts in the high-tech and advanced manufacturing field in China. For example, it built a factory making Gen 8.5 LCDs and semiconductor memory chips in Suzhou, Jiangsu province. As a leader in lithium battery technology, the South Korean tech giant invested $600 million in a car battery project in Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province, in August 2014 to tap into the electric-vehicle market in China.

It also established nine research and development centers in China, with more than 7,000 researchers.

"The investment areas have been rapidly moving into cutting-edge, high value-added and capital-intensive industries," Roger Sheng, research director at research firm Gartner Inc.

"China has become the largest trading partner for South Korea. Chinese local governments are actively promoting cooperation with the electronic giant and encouraging its investment in China."