NXP, a chip giant from the Netherlands, announced plans to work with a variety of Chinese tech brands at a recent tech summit in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province.
The world's largest supplier of automotive semiconductors currently works with major Chinese companies like Baidu, Geely and Xiaomi. It's new partnerships include IrisKing – an iris recognition technology developer, Hangsheng Technology – an automotive supplier, and Foxconn Industrial Internet – a communications network equipment manufacturer.
NXP announces plans to expand its business in China. /CGTN Photo
But NXP's move is not just about selling products to China, but to help with China's innovation.
"NXP develops technology in cooperation with Chinese companies," Steve Owen, executive vice president of Sales & Marketing of NXP Semiconductors, told CGTN, "Local companies need to develop their own IP, which they can use inside this market but also then sell the products to the rest of the world. Having developed their own technology will enable Chinese companies to get stronger."
That comes less than a month after NXP launched an Applications Development Center for Auto Electronics in the city of Chongqing, in mid-August. The company wants to roll out the cutting-edge technology in China and cultivate more local innovative personnel.
NXP introduces the latest tech in its automotive sector to media. /Handout photo by NXP
Lars Reger, Chief Technology Officer of NXP Automotive explained why globalization is essential for research and development, "there is no such thing like Chinese radio market, or German market, or American market. This is all about global solutions," Reger told CGTN.
"The entire automotive market has only 100 million vehicles, chopping it into small initials is a disaster because no one can innovate anymore for localized solutions. So, the idea for us is a globalized world without a lot of trade barriers."
"We closely work together with NXP. In our office, sometimes you can't tell whether the engineers are from our company or NXP," said Zhang Yanlu, tech director of MioT, Xiaomi.
"We've been trying to catch up in the industry. Now, we have our own applications and even our own chips. We hope to gain more practical experience and develop our own technology through such cooperation."
According to NXP, the number research and development personnel in China has increased by 30 percent over the past three years.