MICROSOFT Corp broke ground yesterday on a new research and development center in Beijing with an investment of US$280 million that will be its largest R&D center outside its United States headquarters.

The Microsoft China R&D Campus will feature two buildings covering more than 101,000 square meters and is scheduled to be completed in 2010.

It will house thousands of researchers working on innovative technologies and creative products, Microsoft China said in a statement.

"Through investments such as this, we are building on our capabilities as one of Microsoft's key global R&D centers and positioning the company to support the development of the local IT system," Zhang Yaqin, corporate vice president of Microsoft and chairman of Microsoft China, said in the statement.

The new facility will work on mobile and embedded technologies, Web technology products and services, digital entertainment, servers and tools and products for emerging markets.

Besides the core business of Windows and Office suits, Microsoft aims to expand in the mobile communications, server management, Internet and digital entertainment sectors globally, including China which boasts the world's biggest cell phone market and also the largest Internet population, industry insiders said.

More hires

The software giant plans to hire 3,000 more research employees to boost the number to about 5,000 by 2010, Zhang said during a previous interview.

To fight Internet giant Google, Microsoft announced recently a bid to buy Yahoo! Inc for US$42.3 billion but it withdrew the offer at the weekend as both sides couldn't reach an acceptable sale price.