Motorola has invested 450 million US dollars in research and development (R&D) in China, said Jiang Jiaqi, president of Motorola's China R&D Institute.

Since the establishment of its first research center in 1993 in China, Motorola's investment in R&D in China has kept rising, said Jiang at a technology symposium held by Motorola here on Thursday and Friday.

The company did not give the proportion of China in its global investment in R&D, but Motorola's chief technology officer Padmasree Warrior said one out of ten of Motorola's engineers is from China and that China has become Motorola's largest R&D base out of the United States.

As the Chinese market grew bigger and bigger, Motorola announced in 2001 to make China its global center for R&D and manufacturing. Motorola has set up 15 R&D centers in China with more than 1,800 employees.

Warrior said that in the future, Motorola's R&D would focus on mobile phone designing, information security and seamless mobility which is aimed to provide free communication for customers at any time in any place.

This year, Motorola will also increase its investment in the R&D of third generation mobile communication technology, said Jiang.

The company is in cooperation with Chinese research institutes to make environmental standards for consumer electronic products. Meanwhile, Motorola has started to recycle its waste products for environmental protection. Sources with the company said about 10 percent of Motorola's retired mobile phones are recalled, but such recovery is at a relatively low percentage in China.

Up to now, Motorola has launched over 30 technology programs jointly with more than 20 scientific research institutes.

The symposium was held to promote cooperation between Motorola and its partners in technology development. Over 400 representatives from Motorola and Chinese research institutes took part in this symposium.