Foxconn, the Taiwanese-owned electronics contractor whose Shenzhen plants were hit by a wave of suicides earlier this year, is to expand its presence in Chengdu with a new assembly plant there, the latest of a number of new inland factories. Foxconn is owned by Hon Hai Group and numbers some of the best known global technology brands among its customers such as Apple, HP, Sony and Nokia.
Since the suicides put the company into the international spotlight it has opened new assembly plants in Henan, Hebei, Shanxi and Hubei provinces as well as raising wages and improving living conditions for workers at its giant Shenzhen operations. The Chengdu plant is expected to produce advanced panels for LCD TVs and tablet PCs. Foxconn has already has started producing Apple’s iPads there and the new plant will let it expand production of these. Hon Hai has reportedly allocated $275 million for investment in six new Chinese plants, most of them inland.
China Bystander 