Sony Ericsson has set up a new factory in Beijing, which the company says is one of the important steps to make Beijing as its global manufacturing base.

Sony Ericsson's new factory is located in Tianzhu Airport Industrial Zone in Shunyi District of Beijing. Occupying 18500 square meters, it will be used for producing mobile phones and printed circuit boards.

Gunilla Nordstrom, CEO of Sony Ericsson China, said that the construction of the new factory is beneficial for Sony Ericsson to further consolidate its position in China. At present, China is the only country where Sony Ericsson has had a whole range of services ranging from production, outsourcing, development to design, sales and market promotion.

Sony Ericsson also announced that it is establishing a research and development unit for mobile phones in Chennai, India. The move follows closely on the company's January announcement of sourcing local manufacture of phones in Chennai with EMS partners Flextronics and Foxconn; with a production target of 10 million units by 2009. The announcement is part of Sony Ericsson’s global strategy to strengthen its capabilities within the world's fastest growing telecommunications market and generate the growth required to reach a top three position in the global handset market.