Caterpillar Inc, the world's largest construction and mining machinery manufacturer, has expanded its multifunctional research and development center by more than 50 percent in Wuxi, Jiangsu province.

Sun Xiaobo, director of Caterpillar's Product Development & Global Technology Division,

told China Daily that during the global economic downturn in 2009, Caterpillar decided to continue investment in the Wuxi R&D Center, one of the few projects the US company maintained globally against the serious cost cuts.

Caterpillar signed the investment agreement for the Wuxi R&D Center in August 2008, started construction in January 2009, and opened the facility in 11 months. It completed Phase II of the project in May 2011, and finished Phase III this month.

Tana Utley, Caterpillar's vice-president and chief technology officer, said the R&D facility in China has become Caterpillar's biggest comprehensive R&D center outside the United States. Caterpillar's R&D center in Wuxi now has 600 engineers and supporting staff, with test groups able to develop engines from several dozen to more than 3,000 horsepower.