Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., held a groundbreaking ceremony for a major new memory fabrication line in Xi’an, China. Once completed, the new facility will make use of advanced 10-19nm technology to produce NAND flash memory chips, according to the company.
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman and CEO Dr. Oh-hyun Kwon hosted the event, which welcomed 600 attendees including government dignitaries such as Zhao Leji, secretary of provincial party committee and director of provincial People’s Congress Standing Committee, and Kyu Hyung Lee, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to China. Other honored attendees included Sang-Jick Yoon, vice minister for Industry and Technology at the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, as well as hundreds of Samsung suppliers and customers.
Vice Premier of State Council of the People’s Republic of China Li Keqiang congratulated the event through a personal letter, noting that the project will move the partnership between the two countries forward within the IT field.
Dr. Kwon said in his remarks during the ceremony, "It is a great honor to announce our groundbreaking at Xi’an, a city of tremendous historic and academic significance, as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and China. At this time, our memory semiconductor business also marks its 20th consecutive year as the leader of the memory industry. The new Samsung China Semiconductor fab will lay a solid foundation for continued supply of leading memory components, enabling Samsung to further spearhead the advancement of the IT industry and enhanced user experiences."
With the groundbreaking, the Samsung China Semiconductor complex has a target timeline for achieving full-fledged operation in 2014. Initially, Samsung is investing US$2.3 billion in the Xi’an fab. Samsung China Semiconductor will mark the single largest investment by Samsung in China with a phased total investment of US$7 billion.
The capital of multiple dynasties spanning over a thousand years, Xi’an is at the center of development of advanced electronics technology as a primary location in China’s Western Region Development. Xi’an’s industrial landscape supports all key considerations in the production of advanced IT infrastructure such as basic resources including water and power, and a solid employee base for IT research, development and manufacturing.
Xi’an is home to 37 universities and 3,000 R&D centers focused on advanced IT technology. Samsung has also kicked off a program for close academic collaboration with several reknown local universities, which will include scholarships to nurture skilled talent locally.
The groundbreaking in Xi’an comes just one year after Samsung commenced operations at its Line 16 in Hwaseong, Korea.