Tsinghua Holdings Expands R&D Spending on Strategic Technologies
Date : 06/26/2016 @ 9:30PM
Source : Dow Jones News
Stock : Micron Technology, Inc. (MM) (MU)
Quote : 12.99 0.76 (6.21%) @ 4:38PM
Tsinghua Holdings Expands R&D Spending on Strategic Technologies
Print
Alert
Micron Technology, Inc. (MM) (NASDAQ:MU)
Intraday Stock Chart
Today : Tuesday 28 June 2016
Click Here for more Micron Technology, Inc. (MM) Charts.
TIANJIN, China—Tsinghua Holdings Co., the Chinese company that gained international attention for its efforts to acquire overseas semiconductor companies, said it plans to increase its nvestment in research on strategic technologies to 50 billion yuan ($7.6 billion) over the next five years.
As the state-owned investment arm of China's elite Tsinghua University, Tsinghua Holdings is tasked with making investments in line with the government's economic goals. Its growing investments in high-tech sectors reflect China's effort to develop higher-value sectors as growth in traditional industries slows.
"In the future, China's economy will need to rely on innovation," said Xu Jinghong, Tsinghua Holdings' chairman, in an interview Sunday.
Tsinghua Holdings executives called the 50 billion yuan commitment a major increase in high-tech research investment for the company, although they didn't immediately give a direct comparison figure. The company last year invested around six billion yuan in total R&D across sectors, or 9% of its revenue, a spokesman said.
Tsinghua Holdings is the parent company of Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd., the Chinese chip maker that last year attempted to acquire U.S. chip maker Micron Technology Inc. for $23 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. A deal never materialized, due in part to both companies' expectations of regulatory hurdles, the people said.
Mr. Xu said Tsinghua Holdings has chosen two main investment directions for the next five years: a "foundation rock plan" to develop critical, high-level technologies such as semiconductors and advanced manufacturing, and a "gathering stars plan" to foster start-ups in internet services and other developing sectors.
In addition to the 50 billion yuan R&D investment in critical technologies, Tsinghua Holdings said it would set up two funds of 10 billion yuan each, one to commercialize technologies and the other to invest in start-ups.
Write to Eva Dou at eva.dou@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 26, 2016 21:15 ET (01:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
