Chongqing's Liangjiang New Area and Tsinghua Unigroup sign an investment deal to set up a new R&D center, on May 15. [Photo/liangjiang.gov.cn]

Chongqing is planning to gear up its fast-growing electronic information sector by joining hands with China's leading chipmaker, Tsinghua Unigroup.

An economic pillar of Liangjiang New Area, the electronic information industry has experienced rapid development in recent years.

Under the agreement, Chongqing and Tsinghua Unigroup will build a comprehensive R&D platform with a planned floor area of 10,000 square meters and a total investment of 4.6 billion yuan ($722.2 million).

The platform will consist of two sub-centers to develop new generations of chips for mobile devices and digital televisions.

"Liangjiang has a long-standing electronic information sector and a large-scale, company-intensive and self-contained industrial chain," said Zhao Weiguo, chairman of Tsinghua Unigroup, at the signing ceremony. Wu Cunrong, deputy mayor of Chongqing, noted that the R&D center will add momentum to Chongqing's innovation-oriented industries, transforming and upgrading the regional economy.

"Electronic information will play an indispensable role in Chongqing's high-quality development," said Wu.

"The center is going to stimulate an innovative dynamism in a wide range of fields, such as smart phones, intelligent vehicles and the internet of things (IoT)," he added.

According to local media, the joint project between Liangjiang New Area and Tsinghua Unigroup will attract a cluster of downstream enterprises and generate an exponential growth in output value.