pplied Materials Inc., the global leader in Nanomanufacturing Technology solutions, opened a new technology support center in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, on Friday.

The new Global Development and Technology Support Center, which covers a 106,000-square-foot facility area, offers state-of-the-art laboratory, tool demonstration and assembly space.

"The Xi'an center is a major expansion of our capabilities and positions us strategically to benefit from growth throughout China, particularly in the western regions," said Mike Splinter, president and CEO of Applied Materials.

"We are proud a company with Applied Materials' reputation has opened such a versatile facility here in Xi'an," said Chen Baogen, Mayor of Xi'an.

Applied Material's new facilities opened two days after Micron Technology, the world's leading provider of advanced semiconductor solutions, established a manufacturing facility in Xi'an.

The 250-million-U.S.-dollar center is Micron's first manufacturing facility in China and is a project involving the biggest investment ever made at the Xi'an High-Tech Zone.

A fleet of semiconductor producers, including Japan's Renesa Technology, are all eyeing Xi'an to set up new plants or research centers.

Yao Bo, a professor with Xi'an University of Finance and Economics, said the city has been chosen by international heavyweights because it has abundant human resources in research and science as many higher education institutes are clustered in Xi'an.

"They also see great business potential in the vast western areas of China," Yan said.

Mayor Chen predicted that Xi'an will become one of the largest semiconductor production bases in the country in the near future.

Source: Xinhua