(Yicai Global) May 29 -- Foxconn Industrial Internet, the Shanghai-listed unit under Taiwanese electronics giant Hon Hai Precision Industry -- or Foxconn -- plans to set up its East China headquarters in Hangzhou.

The Shenzhen-based network equipment maker yesterday penned a preliminary investment agreement with the administrative committee of the Hangzhou Future Sci-Tech City, local news portal Zhejiang Daily reported the same day. The pair will integrate government offices, higher education institutions and up- and downstream firms to build smart factories and cultivate talent in emerging industries.

The Zhejiang province city is part of the Yangtze River Delta Region, which is an important global manufacturing base, said Zheng Hongmeng, chief executive of Foxconn Industrial Internet. The firm expects building a base there will allow it to offer more efficient solutions to manufacturing customers and help them scale up faster, he added.

Foxconn's new headquarters will be one of the first 32 major projects to enter the China Hangzhou 5G Innovation Park, which is part of the Sci-Tech City. Others include the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology's 5G research center, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's smart driving lab, and a China Mobile innovation center for 5G.

The park officially opened on Jan. 20 and hopes to form China's leading cluster of 5G firms by 2025.

Editor: James Boynton