But maybe not as initially expected. Relocation of employees from the US was delayed earlier in the year, whether that's a response to the Global Economic Crisis is unclear - Intel have seperately stated their commitment to the Dalian plant, People's Daily report a local official as stating the plant will be updated to 65 or 45nm technology, near the cutting edge of Intel's chip production by 2010 - before the plant has started large scale production.

Reuters today report Intel is significantly downsizing it's Shanghai operations and closing it's assembly and testing facility there - employees have the option of moving to existing facilities at Chengdu or Dalian. This downsizing is expected to affect 2000 jobs in Shanghai. The article reinforced the commitment to further investment in Dalian.

Many in the Dalian business community seem somewhat miffed at the delay in moving to Dalian. Some suspect the plant was always intended for more advanced production - the lower tech plans a means to avoid US restrictions on exporting high technology production - at best that's just speculation. Others blamed the Economic Crises and feared the plant would not open for several more months, if not years. Is this representative of a larger move from high cost cities to cheaper 2nd tier cities where wage pressures and land costs are lower, and governments are seeking to provide incentives to bring their development up to a higher level?

In either case, this news is good for Dalian. And a word to potentially relocating employees reading this: Dalian's a pretty pleasant city to live in, the Jinshitan location a sandy resort outside of town served well by two international schools. Less hectic than Shanghai, but comparing the two, I'd far rather live here, especially if with a family.

Image: An artist's impression of the Dalian Fab 68 in Dalian. Copyright Intel. http://www.intel.com/jobs/china/sites/dalian.htm