US-based Caterpillar Inc., a large construction equipment manufacturer, has announced that it will establish an innovation center in Qingdao, a port city of east China's Shandong Province, to speed up technology introduction to China.

The center will be completely funded and managed by Caterpillar Inc., which is regarded as the latest step for the company to expand business in China.

Sources with the company said the innovation center will offer technical support to most of Caterpillar's branches in China. In addition, the company is now talking with some top Chinese machinery companies for investment and business cooperation in the future.

Caterpillar Inc., ranking 37th among the world's top 500 companies, has a 20 percent market share of excavating machinery in China. The company stepped in the Chinese market 28 years ago and has set up eight joint ventures and wholly owned companies.