Intel injects $67 million in 8 domestic robotics, cloud, data startups

Hak Fei Poon, its chairman and chief technology officer, said a technology partnership with Intel is already underway.

"We will be able to tap into a bigger market by partnering with Intel.

"Nuovo Film will integrate its products into devices powered by Intel's chips and we have cross-licensed each others' patents so we will have a stronger intellectual property pool to support future development."

Kitty Fok, research director at IDC China, said small electronics hardware makers in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, are playing a key role in popularizing Intel's mobile chip sets.

Intel is relying on Chinese hardware makers to grow its presence in the mobile chip market, currently dominated by ARM-based vendors such as Qualcomm Inc.

Analysts consider Intel's own x86 instruction set, the part of a computer's architecture related to programming, is lagging in terms of market share because it has delayed the release of an energy-efficient mobile version.

Intel is not the only ambitious foreign investor in the Chinese tech industry. Dell Inc last week announced a $125 billion five-year investment plan in China, boosting its manufacturing and innovation capabilities.