(Yicai Global) June 16 -- German conglomerate Siemens plans to invest EUR140 million (USD154 million) to expand its digital factory in the city of Chengdu to seize opportunities in the fast-growing China market.

Siemens will expand the factory, which mainly produces industrial automation equipment, and create 400 new jobs, the Munich-based firm announced yesterday. This will help Siemens further strengthen its research and development and manufacturing capabilities in China, it added.

The move is part of Siemen’s new EUR2 billion (USD2.2 billion) plan to hike its global capacity this year. The firm also said it will invest an additional EUR500 million (USD547 million) to research and develop cutting-edge technologies, including artificial intelligence and the industrial metaverse.

As many Chinese customers are early adopters of new technologies, especially in digitalization and high-tech manufacturing, Siemens announced investment for a new digital R&D Innovation Center in Shenzhen to speed up the development of motion control systems with digitalization and power electronics technology.

China is the world's largest industrial market. Its share of manufacturing output accounts for nearly 30 percent of the global total, Roland Busch, chairman and chief executive of Siemens, said at the Siemens Digital Economy Forum held in Beijing on June 14. The digital transformation of China's industrial sector is advancing rapidly, which is why the local market is very attractive to Siemens, Busch added.

Siemens posted a net profit of EUR3.6 billion in the first quarter, up 193 percent from a year earlier, according to the company's latest earnings report. Revenue rose 14 percent to EUR19.4 billion (USD21.2 billion), with income from China reaching EUR2.3 billion, a 9 percent gain.

Editor: Futura Costaglione