A rumor that has been circulating since last month that Intel (INTC) would separate China from its Asia Pacific Business Region has been confirmed.

Yang Xu, general manager of Intel China, announced that from January 1, 2007, Intel will regard mainland China as an independent region for its sales and marketing operations and Intel China will then report directly to Intel's headquarters in the United States and enjoy more flexible policies in budget approval, investments, product development and marketing.

Although Intel is reducing staff in a large scale on a global basis, top management from the company disclosed that Intel China will recruit more talent for some business departments in China while following the staff reduction trend on the global market.