FOXCONN, the Chinese Apple supplier officially known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, plans to invest 1 billion yuan (US$137.4 million) to build a headquarters complex for the development of new businesses in Zhengzhou, Central China’s Henan Province, according to a company announcement yesterday. The project’s first phase will be located in Zhengdong New District in the east of the city, with a building space of 7 hectares. The headquarters will consist of seven facilities providing industrial resources, technical reserves, and capital financing to support the implementation of Foxconn’s “3+3 strategy” in the Chinese mainland, the Taiwan-based company announced, citing a deal it signed with the Henan government. The seven facilities will include a management center, a research, development, and engineering center, a strategic industry development center, a strategic industry financial platform, an industry research institute and key talent center, a marketing center, and a supply chain center, Foxconn said. The company’s “3+3 strategy” focuses on developing three emerging industries — electric vehicle, digital healthcare, and robotics — and three new technologies — artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and new-generation mobile communications. Foxconn will give full play to its core competitiveness in intelligent manufacturing and advantages in global technologies and supply chain to promote projects in the new energy vehicle (NEV), energy storage battery, digital healthcare, and robotics industries, the firm said. Moreover, Foxconn will build an NEV pilot production center and a solid-state battery project in the Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone to promote its development in high-end manufacturing, according to the agreement. Foxconn will continue to develop in Henan and implement its “3+3 strategy” to make the Zhengzhou HQ a base and an important benchmark for its global innovation and industrial layout, Chairman Liu Yangwei said. Foxconn started cooperation with Henan in 2010. The output value of Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant hit a record high last year, achieving growth for the 12th year. The facility boosted the foreign trade scale of the Zhengzhou Xinzheng Comprehensive Bonded Zone, where it is located, to 407.3 billion yuan, the highest in the country. (SD-Agencies) | 