The American memory chip manufacturer Micron announced on Friday that it was dedicated to China and will invest 4.3 billion yuan ($603 million) in its chip packaging factory in the Chinese city of Xian over the coming several years.

The biggest memory chip manufacturer in the US has been singled out by China’s cyberspace regulator, who announced last month that the company had failed a network security audit and that operators of critical infrastructure would no longer be allowed to purchase from it.

In its statement that was published on WeChat on Friday, Micron made no reference to the outcome of the review.

“This investment project demonstrates Micron’s unwavering commitment to its China business and team,” it quoted CEO Sanjay Mehrotra as saying.

According to the business, the investment will entail purchasing packaging equipment from a Xian-based subsidiary of Taiwan’s Powertech Technology Inc (6239.TW), which Micron has been utilising in the production since 2016.

To improve the plant’s packaging and testing capabilities, Micron will also inaugurate a new production line to create mobile DRAM, NAND, and SSD products.

The purchase of the equipment by Micron was part of the 2016 agreement between the companies, according to a separate statement from Powertech, therefore the company’s financial impact would be minimal.

Requests for comment from Micron, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, and the Chinese Cyberspace Administration were not immediately fulfilled.

Although Micron withheld the deal’s value, it did state that it would award contracts to 1,200 of Powertech’s Xian subsidiary workers and that the investment would add 500 new employment.

The business said that this will increase Micron’s staff in China to around 4,500 individuals.

After the China ban, Micron predicted a revenue decline in the low- to high-single digit percentage range. Before the embargo, Chinese authorities were reducing their purchases of Micron’s chips, according to a Reuters analysis of more than 100 public government contracts.

(Adapted from ThePrint.in)