Germany's ZF group, a global technology company, opened a new research and development center and held a groundbreaking ceremony for an electronics plant in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on Tuesday, accelerating its expansion in southern China.

Tech Centre Guangzhou in the city's Huadu district, the first in south China, has become the fourth in China, while the new electronics plant will be the second in the country.

Tech Centre Guangzhou is equipped with core engineering capabilities and it focuses on core competencies such as software development, mechatronic design and system integration. It provides local customers with ZF's comprehensive technology and solutions, including safety systems, autonomous driving, electric drive systems and related technologies.

The Guangzhou electronics plant will be developed into a highly automated and intelligent global bench mark plant. The products cover four major areas, including ADAS, high-performance domain controllers, safety electronics and chassis controllers, which are scheduled for mass production in 2025.

"The establishment of the two new facilities shows that our 'In China, for China' strategy has made a new breakthrough. We will continue to innovate and invest in China, which leads the world in cutting-edge and iterating technologies," said Stephan von Schuckmann, a member of the management board of ZF Group.

"We will optimize our strategic footprint in China and drive the vigorous development of next-generation mobility," he said.

Renee Wang, executive vice-president, president of ZF China and Operation Asia Pacific, ZF Group, said Guangzhou is the innovation hub of the automotive industry in South China, and that Huadu district serves as a highland for the development of the automotive industry.

"The completion of Tech Centre Guangzhou and the groundbreaking ceremony for our new electronics plant reflect the localization of ZF's core R&D capabilities, as well as that of the entire supply chain," she said.

"We will effectively utilize both global and local resources, increase investment in the Chinese market continuously, enhance local core R&D capabilities and technological applications, strengthen software development capacity and systems integration, accelerate the localization process of the supply chain, especially critical components, to meet local market demand and contribute to the transformation of the Chinese automotive industry," she added.

Tech Centre Guangzhou will be built in phases over the years, with office buildings, laboratory buildings, workshops, test tracks and other related facilities.

The first phase of the center is equipped with a variety of advanced laboratories and software and hardware test environments. It will also be equipped with a testing track for high-speed, dynamic and autonomous driving scenarios in the future.

The electronics plant will further increase production capacity for intelligent driving and software products, and will be built into a highly automated and intelligent global bench mark plant.