A Sino-US micro-electronic joint research center opened in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, Tuesday.

The research center was established by the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and the US-based ON Semiconductor Corporation.

The center aims to attract talented Chinese students to develop power management devices and integrated circuits, according to Henry Leung, chief executive officer of ON in the Asia-Pacific region.

ON will fund the training of UEST's teachers by the Georgia Institute of Technology, in the United States, in the study of electronics and integrated circuits.

ON is the first foreign company in the province to have a cooperation program with universities, said Leung.

It has also cooperated with Zhejiang University, a leading institute in scientific engineering in east China.

In addition, the company also invested in Leshan Phoenix Semiconductor Co., Ltd., in Sichuan's Leshan City, in 1995, and was the first multinational to begin production of six-inch chips in western China.

Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, ON Semiconductor is a leading global supplier of advanced semiconductors for power and data management applications. It is listed on the New York technology-focused NASDAQ composite index.

(Xinhua News Agency February 27, 2003)