NANJING - Samsung Electronics, the world's largest maker of handsets, memory chips and televisions, will invest $1.7 billion in its plant in East China's Jiangsu province in the coming five years, local authorities said Sunday.

The investment will be used to build workshops, purchase equipment and set up research institutes in Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co's branch in the city of Kunshan, a major IT industry base in China, to support a chip carrier related project, according to sources with the Kunshan municipal government.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co had invested about $81 million in its Kunshan plant by the end of 2012 since setting it up in 2008, the sources said.

Engaged in developing and manufacturing electronic components, Kunshan Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co Ltd saw an annual sales volume of $100 million in 2012.

Samsung's investment in Kunshan aims at meeting fast-growing demand for smart devices and will prompt the development of the IT industry in the city as well, according to industry insiders.