The Samsung logo at the entrance of Samsung 837 studio in New York, Oct 11, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

Samsung Electronics Co (SEC) plans to build a second phase of its memory chip plant in Shaanxi province, with a $7-billion investment confirmed through the signing of an agreement with the provincial government on Wednesday.

Hu Heping, governor of Shaanxi province, and Kinam Kim, president of Samsung's semiconductor division, attended the signing ceremony at the Xi'an High-tech Industries Development Zone.

"The Xi'an first project, setting up the Samsung China Semiconductor Co, proved to be a huge success, yielding an annual output value of more than 20 billion yuan ($3.03 billion) and drawing more than 100 supporting companies to the zone," he said.

"SEC has formed a complete industrial chain integrating manufacturing, packaging and testing in Xi'an."

The partnership with SEC will strengthen Xi'an's role as a major base for the semiconductor industry and sharpen its international competitiveness.

Wang Yongkang, Xi'an municipal Party secretary, expressed his appreciation for the support from the company and the government, and said Xi'an will provide the best service to ensure the cooperation and mutual development on a wider scale.

Shaanxi province has made great efforts in facilitating external business. It has halved the average import customs clearance time, and reduced the export time by 70 percent after the China (Shaanxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone officially began operations.