Sony to build LCD plant in China

Japan's electronics maker Sony will invest AU$148 million in the construction of a liquid crystal display (LCD) plant in China, allowing the company to produce LCDs in China for the first time. The plant in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, will produce high-temperature polysilicon LCDs for digital, still and video cameras and was expected to start operating by the end of March 2004.

Sony also plans to establish an engineering centre in China to support its factories that manufacture audiovisual and information-related equipment. The centre will be set up within Sony's local headquarters in Beijing by March 2003.

With an initial workforce of 50, the facility will procure parts, prepare Chinese-language versions of product software and provide technical assistance to Sony's six plants in the country. The company says it will boost the number of employees at the centre from 200 to 300 in a few years to meet the needs of expanding local production.