Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) yesterday officially kicked off construction of a massive TFT-LCD (thin film transistor liquid crystal display) works.

 

The project, in Foshan's Nanhai District, was granted permission by the Taiwan authorities late last month, and will be both the largest TFT-LCD factory in the province as well as the largest overseas investment project in Foshan.

 

CMO, based in Taiwan, is one of the world's leading TFT-LCD suppliers. Its key products are large-size TFT-LCD panels for laptops, desktop monitors, and televisions.

 

Total investment for the Nanhai CMO project will surpass US$2 billion. And the initial phase, which is set to begin production in late 2007, entails capital of US$30 million.

 

"CMO's new overseas plant in Nanhai will strengthen our total manufacturing strategy and cost competitiveness," said Jack Lin, senior vice-president of CMO.

 

He said that the Nanhai project will produce 2 million liquid crystal modules (LCM) a month, reaching a gross industrial output value of US$10 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008.

 

Lin said the mainland's TV and computer industries have been developing very rapidly, increasing demand for TFT-LCD panels.

 

"The 2008 Beijing Olympics alone will mean a substantial business opportunity for us."

 

In late 2004, CMO set up its first overseas plant in Ningbo, a city in East China's Zhejiang Province, also manufacturing LCMs.

 

"Guangdong is developing the TFT-LCD industry into a key industry in the 11th Five Year Plan (2006-10) and the Nanhai CMO project is expected to make a tremendous contribution to the development of the industry in the province," noted Tong Xing, vice-governor of Guangdong.

 

The senior official said the province's strategy to develop the TFT-LCD industry is based on demand generated by the sustained development of the TV and computer industries in Guangdong.

 

Guangdong has long been China's key manufacturing base for TVs and computers, and TVs made in the province account for 47 per cent of the nation's total.

 

"The TV industry in the province needs to be upgraded with the latest technological developments, including TFT-LCD, to guarantee sustained development," said Tong.

 

Official statistics indicate that the province imported high-end crucial component elements including integrated circuit boards and new types of monitors worth US$8.5 billion in 2005.

 

Work will begin on another two TFT-LCD projects in Guangzhou and Shenzhen later this year.

 

(China Daily July 25, 2006)