Siemens will set up an advanced industrial automation manufacturing, research and development base in the Chengdu High-tech Zone in the capital of Southwest China’s Sichuan province.

According to a recent agreement signed between Siemens and the Chengdu High-tech Zone, the base will be Siemens' largest digital plant in China and the third R&D center for its industrial automation business.

The other two are in Germany and the United States.

The Chengdu plant, which is expected to operate in the first half of 2013, will make high-end PLC (programmable logic controller) serial products. After meeting domestic demands, around 30 percent of the products will be exported.