Global firms step up R&D activities in China

China is now the research and development center for many foreign multinationals, the head of a leading technology company in the country says.

Gui Luoning, president of Bell Labs China, based in Shanghai, says the overall figures on research and development spending in China understate its actual strength.

"I think the main focus of many multinationals is to spend money on research and development in China, and it is a growing trend," he says.