Located in the Zizhu Science Park in the Minhang District of Shanghai, the new building was officially inaugurated by Alain Dutheil, COO of ST, Bob Krysiak, Corporate VP and General Manager, Greater China Region in the presence of Shanghai Government officials, Mr. Massimo Roscigno, Consulate General of Italy, and Mr. Jacques Torregrossa, Consulat General de France.

While the new HQ houses all regional business activities, its main focus will be on Research & Development, creating innovative new solutions for ST customers both in the Greater China region and around the world. The size of the building, some 20,000 square meters, allows for growth of ST staff in Shanghai, from nearly 400 today to a maximum capacity of 1,200.

"Greater China already accounts for nearly 30% of our worldwide sales but is set to play an even greater part in our future growth. We are already a part of the local ecosystem, thanks to the energy and creativity of the hundreds of local engineers we currently employ and we plan to recruit many hundreds more over the next few years", said Bob Krysiak, ST Corporate Vice President and General Manager, Greater China Region. "The Shanghai R&D team will be seamlessly integrated into ST’s worldwide R&D organization, so that engineers in Shanghai will be working with and contributing to technologies and solutions of global importance", noted Krysiak.

Currently, around half of ST’s employees in the region are engineers, either supporting local customers in developing innovative new products across the spectrum of electronics applications or working in Competence Centers, where silicon designers and applications engineers work together to develop solutions for partners and customers around the world. ST already has two Competence Centers in Shanghai, one focusing on Digital TV software for worldwide platforms and the other dedicated to Multi-Segment applications. To date ST’s Greater China silicon design team has developed more than 60 products for both local and worldwide customers.