The Swedish telecom giant Ericsson will close the company’s product research and development center in the eastern city of Nanjing China and plans to transfer its 630 employees to TietoEVRY, the Finnish software provider, South China Morning Post reports.
Ericsson’s research center in Nanjing was established in 2001 and is one out of five Ericsson R&D centers in China which combined at its peak employed a total of 5.000 staff and spent annually $464 million on research and development, according to company information.
Ericsson’s remaining R&D centers in China are located in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chengdu.
According to SCMP, the Swedish telecom giant will continue to operate its 5G factory in Nanjing, meant as a showcase of its 5G prowess.
Ericsson confirmed in an email statement to SCMP that the company will divest its R&D activities in Nanjing to Finnish TietoEVRY effective 1 November 2021. All affected employees will be offered employment with TietoEVRY, the company said.
