BEIJING/SHANGHAI Taiwan's Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics maker and Apple's biggest iPhone assembler, said on Wednesday that it plans to invest one billion yuan (US$137.5 million) to construct a new business headquarters in Zhengzhou, China.

Foxconn, formally called Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, signed a contract with the Henan provincial government for the proposed project, which will have a construction area of about 700 acres (283 hectares), the company said.

Foxconn is benefitting from strong demand for servers for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, with its customers also including AI chip darling Nvidia.

The Taiwanese company posted better-than-expected quarterly revenue on AI server demand this month, and forecast continued growth in the current quarter.

Foxconn announced plans for its new business headquarters in the Henan province in April, which it said would focus mainly on new technologies and core technology research, although it did not reveal an investment figure at the time.

The world's largest iPhone manufacturing facility in Zhengzhou was hit in 2022 by a Covid-19 outbreak that prompted worker departures and unrest, as well as production disruptions.

  - Reuters