Samsung today held a ceremony for a major new memory fabrication line in Xi'an, China. Once completed, the new facility will make use of advanced 10-nanometer (nm)-class technology in producing NAND flash memory chips. Samsung Vice Chairman and CEO Oh-hyun Kwon said in his remarks during the ceremony, "It is a great honor to announce our groundbreaking at Xi'an, a city of tremendous historic and academic significance, as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and China. At this time, our memory semiconductor business also marks its 20th consecutive year as the leader of the memory industry. The new Samsung China Semiconductor fab will lay a solid foundation for continued supply of leading memory components, enabling Samsung to further spearhead the advancement of the IT industry and enhanced user experiences."

With the groundbreaking, the Samsung China Semiconductor complex has a target timeline for achieving full-fledged operation in 2014. Initially, Samsung is investing US$2.3 billion in the Xi'an fab. Samsung China Semiconductor will mark the single largest investment by Samsung in China with a phased total investment of US$7 billion.

Xi'an is at the center of development of advanced electronics technology as a primary location in China?s Western Region Development. Xi'an is home to 37 universities and 3,000 R&D centers focused on advanced IT technology. Samsung has also kicked off a program for close academic collaboration with several local universities, which will include scholarships to nurture skilled talent locally.

Just one year after commencing operations at its Line 16 in Hwaseong, Korea, the new Xi'an production facility will help to balance Samsung?s global production network.