(Telecompaper) Chinese foundry Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) has partnered with Huawei, Belgian R&D centre Imec and Qualcomm to set up a research and development centre in Shanghai. The joint venture company SMIC Advanced Technology Research & Development (Shanghai) Corp will focus on next-generation CMOS logic technology at the 14nm level. Belgium's King Phillipe attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the venture, which will be majority owned by SMIC. In the first phase, the joint venture company will develop 14 nm CMOS technology for mass production, which will be based on Imec's expertise in advanced semiconductor processing technology. The R&D project will be conducted at SMIC's production line. SMIC will have the rights to license the resulting intellectual property, helping to facilitate the mass production of 16/14nm ICs in China by 2020, which is one of the goals set by the National IC Industry Development Outline.