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Four years after setting up a manufacturing site in Chengdu, Texas Instruments, the world's largest semiconductor company, already considers the city its strategic focus in China.
TI announced it will expand its manufacturing capacity in Chengdu with a 300 mm wafer bumping facility, at the Nov 6 opening ceremony for its seventh assembly and testing facility. That 33,260-square-meter facility in Chengdu Hi-Tech Zone is now in production.
TI has manufacturing operations throughout the world. Its 300 mm operations include the industry's first 300 mm analog wafer fabrication plant in Richardson, Texas, as well as a DMOS6 wafer fab in Dallas and bump operations in the Philippines and Dallas.
Texas Instruments in Chengdu
The company entered the Chinese market 28 years ago. Its manufacturing investment in China began in 2010 with the opening of a 200 mm wafer fabrication plant in Chengdu. The company chose Chengdu to set up its manufacturing base in China because the city plays an irreplaceable role in China's western development strategy, and the local government offers a good investment environment and services.
Chengdu has 52 universities, including Sichuan University, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, and Southwest University for Nationalities, with a total of 686,000 students enrolled. It is also home to 30 State-level research institutes, 10 key national laboratories and some 100 vocational and technical colleges.
Many other IT giants have invested in Chengdu and the Chengdu High-tech Comprehensive Bonded Zone is home to a number of leading IT companies, including Intel, Dell, Lenovo, Foxconn and Molex.
Chengdu High-tech Comprehensive Bonded Zone The Chengdu Tianfu Software Park has also attracted more than 400 companies, including IBM, GE, SAP, NEC, Philips, Siemens and Ericsson.
Chengdu Tianfu Software Park
Forty percent of those companies are foreign-invested and 33 are Fortune 500 companies.
Since semiconductor giant Intel Corp set up a chip packaging and testing factory in the city in 2003, Chengdu has become a magnet for international IT companies.
Intel Group in Chengdu
It is widely considered the fourth pole of China's IT industry, after Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, producing half of the world's laptop chips and two thirds of the iPads.
The Michelin Group, another Fortune 500 company and a world leader in tire technology and innovation, also attaches great importance to Chengdu.
The group recently held a global event — the 12th Michelin Challenge Bibendum — in Chengdu. It was the third time the event was held in China but the first time in western China.
Jean-Dominique Sénard, CEO of the Michelin Group said, "We already have factories in cities like Shenyang, Shanghai, and Anhui province. If we are to build a company in western China, Chengdu would be the first choice."
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