Apple manufacturing partner, Foxconn Technology Group, is expanding its presence in Zhengzhou, the central Chinese city that is home to the world’s largest iPhone plant, after efforts by government officials to convince the Taiwanese assembler to keep its local operations, reports the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
Taiwan-listed Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, has leased a 293-acre plot in the Zhengzhou Comprehensive Bonded Zone for around 197 million yuan (US$28 million), according to an exchange filing on Monday. The SCMP says thcompany plans to build smart warehouses at the new site, which is rented from Zhengzhou’s natural resources and planning bureau and other local authorities through the firm’s subsidiary Hongfujin Precision Electronics (Zhengzhou) Co.
Foxconn has been expanding its presence outside China, as well. Apple’s biggest contractor secured a new site in Vietnam earlier this month, as the Taiwanese company pushes ahead with efforts to shift more production away from mainland China following major disruptions at its key manufacturing base late last year.
Foxconn has signed a lease with Saigon-Bac Giang Industrial Park Corp to occupy a plot of 45 hectares (111 acres) for around US$62.5 million to meet “operational needs and expand production capacity.” Last August the contractor signed a $300 million memorandum of understanding with Vietnamese developer Kinh Bac City to expand its facility in the north of the country to diversify and boost production, according to Reuters.
