Samsung, from the Republic of Korea (ROK), has increased its investment in Tianjin the north China's manufacturing base from US$29 million to US$197 million, becoming the largest cell phone maker on the Chinese mainland.

 

Company officials said Samsung is building the largest overseas mobile phone production and R&D (research and development) base inTianjin.

 

According to the local commerce commission, the Samsung Telecommunications Co. in Tianjin will expand its annual production capacity from 24 million GSM (global system for mobile telecommunications) cell phones to 42 million units and its annual sales income to US$4.6 billion.

 

To achieve the goal, the company has built another 16,000 square meters of workshops and increased the number of its production lines to 64, company official said.

 

(Xinhua News Agency February 28, 2006)