Samsung launches LED manufacturing base in N China

TIANJIN, May 9 (Xinhua)-- Samsung LED, a light-emitting diodes (LED)
company of the global electronics giant Samsung, has set up its first overseas
manufacturing base in north China's port city Tianjin.

The base, Tianjin Samsung LED Co., Ltd, was established with a starting
capital of 30 million U.S. dollars, according to the Tianjin
Economic-Technological Development Area (Teda) Administrative Commission.

Commission spokesman Zhang Liang said Saturday initial investment to the
Tianjin manufacturing base would reach 90 million U.S. dollars.

He said the company had just finished registry with the local government in
Teda, but it was not clear when the base would be constructed and begin
production.

The base would be dedicated to the making of LEDs, a new generation of
lighting source that excels traditional light sources, as it is less
energy-consuming and long-lived, and improves image contrast and display.

LEDs are used in a wide range of products such as LCDs, mobile
telecommunications devices and lighting equipment.

Samsung has so far invested in 11 manufacturing companies in Teda, with an
overall investment of 1.6 billion U.S. dollars. Tianjin takes about one third of
the group's investment portfolio in China.

As north China's biggest port city and a traditional industrial base,
Tianjin is aiming to become the country's third fast-growing area besides the
two economic engines in the Pearl River Delta in south China and the Yangtze
River Delta in east China.

China to build its biggest high-speed train factory

CHANGCHUN, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Construction of China's
biggest manufacturing base for high-speed trains is to be completed in the
northeastern Jilin Province in June next year, local sources confirmed
Wednesday.

It will also become China's biggest research and
development center, according to Han Fengwu, deputy general manager of the
Changchun Railway Vehicle Co., Ltd (CRC).

The base, which cost 2.5 billion yuan (about 0.36
billion U.S. dollars), is capable of producing 500 cars for ordinary passenger
trains, 800 cars for high-speed trains which run at a speed above 350 kilometers
per hour and 800 cars for inter-city express trains above 120 kilometers per
hour.

Construction on the base began last May.

CRC, a share-holding enterprise registered in March
2002, produced China's first underground train, magnetic levitation train and
high-speed train.

The Ministry of Railways launched a major overhaul of
the rail system on April 1, the seventh since 1997, featuring faster trips and
more seats.