NEC Corp has firmed up its plans to build Unix workstations in China, saying that it is negotiating with Changjiang Jituan Gongsi for the formation of a joint venture that would make the EWS 4800 line of MIPS Technologies Inc R-series-based machines. The venture would be sited near Shanghai and would be established by mid-1994, and would mark NEC’s first computer hardware production venture in China, which is striking in the context that companies moving into Chinese manufacture usually start with personal computers. NEC plans to hold an equity stake of more than 50% in the venture, which it says will likely be capitalised at several hundred thousand dollars. NEC hopes to start assembling the EWS 4800 workstations by the end of this year, using Japanese-made parts and components, making several thousand a year, with output initially all targeted at the Chinese market. The aim is to avoid the high levy now being imposed on imports of assembled computers by the Chinese government, and the company hopes to make personal computers and printers for export at the unit in due course.
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