Electronic, IT sectors to power Chengdu's growth surge

Local authorities in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province said they see the city’s electronic and information technology industry as a growth engine with great potential.

Chengdu’s industrial development plan, released in July, estimated the industry would have a 1 trillion yuan ($150 billion) scale in the city by 2020. Statistics from the local authorities show that the industry’s output was worth 480 billion yuan in 2016.

Earlier this month, China’s leading LED display manufacturer, Beijing Oriental Electronics, announced its production line for sixth-generation flexible displays is now operational in its Chengdu plant.

With a total investment of 46.5 billion yuan, it is the first production line of its kind in China, according to BOE.

The flexible display is called activematrix organic LED, or AMOLED. It can be widely used for smart wearable technology, mobile phones, tablet computers and automobile displays, according to the company.

BOE said the production line can produce 30 billion yuan worth of displays annually.

The company’s executives said the project demonstrates BOE’s longstanding confidence in Chengdu as well as in Sichuan province.

Qin Xiangdong, deputy general manager of BOE Chengdu, said the company views Sichuan as its major production base.

 According to Qin, BOE has steadily strengthened its investment in Sichuan in the 10 years since it built its first production site there in 2007. With an investment of 4.5 billion yuan, the site was used to produce its 4.5-generation TFT-LCD displays.

The executive noted that the professional administrative services offered by the local government and the high-quality talent pool in the region met the company’s requirements.

Qin recalled that the government of the Chengdu high-tech zone — where the BOE facility is located — acted immediately when a water plant was damaged in a flood.

“The local government deployed fire engines to supply water and ensured the continued operation of our plant,” Qin said.

Not far away from the BOE plant is the campus of the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, a renowned local university.

“We recruit hundreds of university graduates every year, with many of them from this university,” Qin said.

The executive also cited other aspects of Chengdu that are attractive for doing business — delicious food, being a livable city, having a good environment and its solid industrial basis.

The Chengdu high-tech zone is now home to branches of many big names in the electronics and information technology industries, including Foxconn, Dell, Lenovo and Texas Instruments.

Semiconductor producer Global- Foundries began building a 12-inch wafer plant in Chengdu in February.

The first phase of the project is due to be completed at end of 2018 and the second phase at the end of 2019. On completion, the plant will have received a total investment of $10 billion.

Global-Foundries, the globally renowned semiconductor producer, breaks ground for its 12-inch wafer plant in Chengdu in February. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY