Photos: Intel's China chip site

It doesn't look like much now, but eventually this site will hold an Intel wafer fabrication plant. This Intel employee is holding a 300-millimeter wafer, the material from which individual chips are cut. In late March (when these pictures were taken), the company announced plans to spend $2.5 billion to build the facility.

That expenditure is just one sign of how important China is to the chipmaker. This week, the company is hosting its semiannual Intel Developer Forum in Beijing, a long day's flight from its usual California locale.