Sony ups China investment

Japan's Sony Corp announced a further US$200 million investment in its China operations for the fiscal year 2004. The company said the investment would help secure its sales target of US$8 billion by 2008, the Shanghai Daily news reported. The announcement came as top Sony executives opened a $1 million software research and development center in Shanghai's Pudong Software Park. China is Sony's third largest consumer market after the US and Japan, with sales increasing by 70% in the last fiscal year to reach US$1.7 billion.