Huawei’s $1.4 billion R&D facility in Shanghai is to enter into operation this year, the government revealed, with plans to establish the site as home to groundbreaking research around semiconductors and advanced technologies including 5G, AI and cloud.

Local authorities stated the site, first announced in 2019, spreads more than 2 million-square-kilometres in the Quingpu district, will house 30,000 personnel and has its own roads and rail network.

Providing more details, the government explained the facility includes seven “architectural clusters” with college campuses and a plaza, adding the site is designed to build “a diversified industrial community”.

The new facility is by far Huawei’s largest and most heavily invested R&D centre globally and is expected to attract “top talents” to aid the vendor achieve breakthroughs in key technologies, such as 5G and cloud computing, the authorities added.

Details about the project first emerged five years ago, and at the time South China Morning Post reported the site would focus on the development of semiconductors, IoT and wireless technologies.

Huawei MD Ren Zhengfei reportedly told staff in 2021 he envisioned an “atmosphere suitable for foreign scientists to work and live in”.

The billion dollar plus R&D campus is also an attempt by Huawei to boost its self-reliance and develop homegrown technologies, due to ongoing US trade restrictions.