Intel recently announced that the company's 12-inch chip fab in Dalian, China, is set to begin production in 2010 as originally planned, the Xinhua News reported on June 22, citing general manager of Intel Dalian, Kirby Jefferson. The fab, named Fab 68, currently under construction, is the company's first chip plant in China and is slated for completion in the summer of 2009. Intel stated that the equipment installation and testing will be carried out following the completion of construction. Jefferson said that Fab 68 will concentrate on the production of chipsets for use in mainstream PCs, including ultra-slim notebook PCs.

Located in the Dalian Economic & Technological Development Zone of China, Fab68 - which was initially slated to use 90nm technology - will produce chipsets based on 65nm technology instead, according to the same source. So far, Intel has invested a total of US$2.5 billion into this new fab and has hired a total of 500 employees, which is expected to increase to 1,200-1,500 later. Further details regarding the capacity of the fab, however, were not yet disclosed.