US chipmaker AMD Wednesday demonstrated its commitment to the Chinese market with the opening of a holding company in Beijing's Zhongguancun Science Park.

AMD (China) Co Ltd, based in China's "Silicon Valley," will be responsible for all AMD operations on the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong including its flash memory plant and semiconductor assembly and test factory in Suzhou in East China's Jiangsu Province.

AMD Vice-President Iain Morris said that "the formal establishment of AMD (China) will start a new chapter" in the US chipmaker's corporate history.

AMD Corporate Vice-President and AMD (China) President and General Manager Karen Guo said the establishment of the wholly-owned holding company illustrates the firm's long-term investment strategy in China.

AMD, which is the world's second largest manufacturer of microprocessors, said last month it would invest US$100 million in a semiconductor assembly and test facility in Suzhou.

In an attempt to break arch-rival Intel's dominance of the Chinese market, AMD also teamed up with Chinese computer makers Founder Group, Amoi, Dawning and distributor Digital China.

Guo said AMD (China) will open two more offices in Shanghai and Shenzhen to manage regional business and markets.

In the future, AMD will move further up the industrial chain, Guo added.

The US firm's next step is thought to be the establishment of a research and development facility.

Although AMD offers advanced technology, it is seen as lagging much behind Intel in the provision of total solutions to its customers, especially its unique 64-bit technology.

Although AMD has set up a joint venture with China Basic Education Software Co Ltd to develop solutions for the education sector and set up an engineering center in China, much work remains to be done.

Guo believed that the establishment of AMD (China) will also help AMD consolidate its resources in China.

AMD's China operations were still a unit of the firm's Far East organization several years ago, and did not have much ability to formulate and carry out a local strategy.

The firm's facilities were also managed by different units.

With the establishment of AMD (China), the company can integrate its resources and concentrate all it efforts on the development of the local market.

(China Daily May 20, 2004)