The first Plasma Display Panel (PDP) television production line with Chinese intellectual property rights will be built in the beginning of the year in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province.

Nanjing-based SVT Group and Southeast University signed a contract on Tuesday for their co-operative, Shadow Mask-PDP (SM-PDP). Shadow Mask refers to the technology developed by the university to produce PDP.

Under the contract, SVT Group paid 80 million yuan (US$9.64 million) to buy the technology from the Display Technology Research & Development Centre at the university.

"Compared with previously developed PDP technology, Shadow Mask technology will highly increase the rate of finished products," said Wang Baoping, a professor from the centre.

According to a director surnamed Zhang who is responsible for the project at SVT Group, the group will build the production line together with overseas industry funds.

When the line is put into production, the group will produce 1 million colour televisions annually with SM-PDP ranging from 42 to 55 inches, Zhang estimated.

"The project will not only rapidly enlarge the domestic market of PDP televisions, but also change the long-term situation, in which Chinese enterprises lag in the display technology field. It will also provide them with the capability to compete in the international market," Zhang said.

PDP is a new generation of flat panel TVs using plasma technology. High resolution and clarity also make this kind of TV usable in outdoor environments. Meanwhile, such TVs are very thin, which makes them easy to install.

There are five manufacturers in the world who own the key component technologies to produce PDP.

All domestic PDP television makers must import such key components and flat panels for production.

There are nine main PDP manufacturers who nearly monopolize the world market, including Panasonic, NEC and Samsung SDI, among them, Japanese makers share 81 per cent of the total world market.

SVT Group was established in Nanjing in 1992 and has now become an investment giant and holding company.

(China Daily December 30, 2004)