GE opens innovation center in NW China

General Electric Co. opened on Wednesday a China Innovation Center (CIC) in Xi'an, capital of northwestern Shaanxi province, to serve as a regional innovation hub, the company said in a statement.

The innovation center, CIC Xi'an, is designed to provide an open platform for GE to jointly create products and solutions with its regional customers in lighting, aviation and energy sectors, according to the statement.

"The customer innovation centers we have built in China's hinterland are in line with the country's ongoing shift in growth pattern," said Mark Hutchinson, president and CEO of GE Greater China.

"These facilities...will play an instrumental role in building out much-needed local innovation capabilities in the critical industries that are key to the region's long-term growth," Hutchinson said.

GE has spent more than 60 million U.S. dollars on the building of the Xi'an center, which is part of 2-billion-dollar investment commitment GE made in late 2010 to bolster the company's innovation activities and build technology partnerships in China over a three-year period.

In May, GE inaugurated another China Innovation Center in Chengdu, capital of southwestern Sichuan province, and the company said more similar facilities are planned in other inland Chinese cities.