Caterpillar, the world's leading construction and mining equipment manufacturer, yesterday said it will build a research and development (R&D) center in Wuxi in eastern Jiangsu province, to increase the technical support for China and the rest of the Asia-Pacific region.

The company said it will invest $20 million for the first stage of the development.

The Wuxi center will focus on product and process development, validation, localization, and technological training.