Despite the intense competition in the Chinese technology market, Apple is planning to set up a new R&D center in China, combining its local engineering and operations teams to develop advanced technologies and services for its products, reported Bloomberg on August 17. The center is expected to open by the end of 2016 and will become the first independently operated R&D center in the Asia-Pacific area. The new R&D center is anticipated to consolidate Apple's presence in China, where the company has significantly increased its corporate sites to 45 since 2011. However, Apple did not disclose the exact location and total number of employees of this new facility.