CHENGDU - The United States' General Electric Company (GE) launched its first Innovation Center in Sichuan province on Wednesday, to provide a platform for interaction between consumers and its engineers.

The center, located in Chengdu, capital city of Sichuan province, is the first innovation and design organization of GE in China, specially designed for consumers and GE engineers to jointly develop new products and solve technical problems.

By the end of 2010, GE promised to invest $2 billion?to expand its technical innovative capability in China. And of that investment, GE has invested $80 million in the innovation center for its construction, labor force and operations.

There are more than 30 labs in the center, including a brainstorming office, product applicable simulation office and development and observation office, according to the center.

In the preliminary stage, the center will focus its work on medical treatment, energy, transportation, telecommunication and power industry.

The innovation center is not an ordinary center. It has opened a new chapter for GE's innovation activity in China, said Xia Zhicheng, president and CEO of GE (China).

In addition, the cooperation between the company and consumers is not only conducive to the development of GE in China, but also will benefit the construction of China's economic innovative capability, Xia added.