Korea's Samsung Electronics has earmarked an investment of US$200 million in China R&D operations in 2010, Beijing Evening News reported on October 21. According to Samsung Chief Technology Officer Lee Sang Wan, the company plans to spend said budget on expanding its current R&D staff in China from 3,700 at present to 5,000 in 2010. Earlier in May this year, Samsung led off construction on a US$10.5 million R&D institute in Tianjin dedicated to the testing of products and components against international safety certification standards. The number of Samsung's R&D institutes in China has grown from 18 at year-end 2004 to 24 at present, according to the Beijing Evening News report.