A groundbreaking ceremony for the FAW Faway Innovation R&D Center is held in Changchun, Jilin province, on July 17. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Construction work kicked off on July 17 at the FAW Faway Innovation R&D Center in Changchun, capital city of Northeast China's Jilin province, according to local media reports.

The center will serve the innovation needs for complete vehicles and boost the overall R&D capabilities and product competitiveness of its parent, auto manufacturer FAW Group Corporation, also based in Changchun.

The overall investment of the project is estimated to be 1 billion yuan ($154 million) and the up-front investment is 550 million yuan.

The groundbreaking ceremony takes place for the FAW Faway Innovation R&D Center. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The center's main R&D building will have a total construction area of about 13,000 square meters. It will undertake the development of auto interior and exterior decoration components, seat developments, interior products development, lighting systems development, instrumentation, voice recognition and other product advancements.

It is expected that by 2025, the innovative R&D team will number about 100 people.