Demonstrating its strong commitment to the Chinese economy, GE has announced the opening of its first quartz manufacturing facility in Wuxi New Zone, located in East China's Jiangsu province. The new facility represents an investment of more than $23 million. It joins two existing GE plants in Wuxi and will serve the lighting industry in China, and around the world, with furnace and finishing operations for high-purity, small-diameter quartz tubing.

All of the plant's technology, facilities and equipment, including furnaces and drying ovens, are new, allowing GE to promote the highest standards of product quality, as well as safety and environmental compliance.

"GE has made another sizeable investment in China to support our growing local and global customer base with high-quality quartz materials produced in accordance with industry best practices," said Fred Zhou, country manager for the quartz business in China. "We anticipate rapid growth in the Asian quartz market. With the addition of this manufacturing facility now operating in Wuxi, GE has established a strong presence that will enable us to further meet increasing demand for GE materials solutions in China, Asia, and around the world."