American memory chipmaker Micron Technology Inc. announced Monday a plan to build its first factory in China.

The plan came days after Fairchild Semiconductor and National Semiconductor Corp. unveiled their business expansion in the country��s fast-growing market, reported Shenzhen Daily.

��If negotiations are smooth, we can start construction by the middle of next year,�� said Charles Xu, a senior executive of Micron��s Shanghai office.

The plant would be used to assemble and test semiconductors, Xu said.

Micron, one of the world��s leading memory chip developer, currently does sales, marketing and chip design in China and plans to spend some US$100 million over the next three to five years.

On Sunday, Fairchild said it had inked a five-year foundry agreement with a Chinese partner.

Under the contract, Jilin Sino-Microelectronics will manufacture selected Fairchild products in its recently completed wafer fabrication facility in Jilin, capital city of northeastern Jilin Province.

The Jilin facility would complement Fairchild��s strategy to increase the in-house manufacturing of its top-line power products, the South Portland, Maine-based company said.

The company is also planning to inject US$800 million in Fairchild Semiconductor (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., a joint venture established in Suzhou Industrial Park in 2001 with an initial investment of US$200 million. The venture started operating in late 2003 and is expected to generate a revenue of US$1 billion by 2008.

The industrial park has also attracted Santa Clara, California-based National Semiconductor, which opened an assembly and test facility there Friday.

National Semiconductor planned to invest US$200 million in the facility, which covered a total area of more than 46,000 square meters, the company said.

��National is now shipping products from its Suzhou facility to customers in China and around the world,�� said Brian L. Halla, the company��s president and CEO.

��This is a great strategic opportunity for National to build its business in China and integrate our manufacturing operations into the world��s fastest-growing semiconductor market.��

National Semiconductor has acquired a total land plot of 146,000 square meters, which is sufficient to expand on the site when more capacity is required.

It counts some of China��s leading technology companies as customers, including Shenzhen-based telecommunication firm Huawei Technologies and Qingdao-based consumer appliance maker Haier Group.

Source: Shenzhen Daily