The construction work
for Samsung's $7-billion project in
Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province,
is in full swing and scheduled
to be completed by the end of
this year, according to local
officials.
The project's most
important flash memory plant will
start trial production in next
February, they said.
An
expressway established for the project
will also be open to the public
within six months.
The
5.6-kilometer four-lane highway will have
a speed limit of 100
km/h.
So far, foundations
for the main building and other
facilities have been
finished.
Workers are now busy
establishing 15 types of supporting
facilities, such as a sewage treatment
factory, a heating center and power
and water infrastructure.
The
electronics giant in the Republic of
Korea said it is very cautious
about safety issues during
construction.
A project manager
said that it organizes meetings and
patrols every day to highlight
security.
They have also set
up a training center for new
workers where they can watch related
videos and read books.
It
also has dozens of simulated
construction scenes that allow workers
to practice their skills, including
welding, scaffolding and high-altitude
operations.
They will receive
an early warning for any action
that may put an employee in
some kind of danger, such as
falling or receiving electric shocks,
the manager said.
As the
largest foreign investment in China's
western areas, Samsung's project
focuses on the production of the
world's most advanced 10-nanometer
high-end flash memory
chips.
To prevent exposure of
this state-of-the-art chip technology,
Samsung set up production bases in
only two foreign cities.
One
was built in 1996 in the US
city of Austin, Texas, and the
other is in Xi'an.
The
choice of China to house the
high-tech project was met with
disapproval in the ROK, a Samsung
senior manager said.
But the
company's senior executives said the
project should be located in a
region with the most potential, he
noted.
Because China is
implementing the western development strategy
and stimulating domestic demand, the
markets there will be huge, he
added.
Samsung has predicted that
China will account for more than
half of the global market share
in the semiconductor industry by
2015.
Most of the chip buyers,
especially the PC manufacturers, have
moved their production lines there.
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