SHANGHAI, Mar. 24 -- Samsung will invest US$5.99 billion in China's mainland this year, the South Korean-based company said yesterday.

Plans include a 1.05 billion yuan (US$143.83 million) liquid crystal display panel manufacturing plant in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province.

The company will also expand business in the insurance, real estate and clothes industries in the mainland, according to Kihong Kim, Samsung China's senior corporate communications manager.

In 2006, Samsung invested US$5.01 billion in the mainland and generated revenue of US$29.6 billion, a 17 percent increase compared with 2005, according to Samsung.

"The investment on LCD will grow in 2007 and we are seeking other business opportunities that Chinese consumers are not familiar with," Kim said.

Samsung Electronics announced recently it would invest 1.05 billion yuan to expand its LCD panel manufacturing plant in Suzhou, which will increase capacity by 60 percent.

After the completion of its expansion plans in 2008, Samsung, the world's No. 1 LCD maker, will produce the panels for LCD TVs on the Chinese mainland for the first time.

Besides consumer electronics and LCD panels, Samsung will expand its finance business in the Chinese mainland.

For example, Samsung Securities, the No. 1 securities operator in the company's hometown, has applied for QFII (qualified foreign institutional investor) status and will "soon get approval," according to Kim.

Samsung will announce the expansion projects in May, that cover the securities, insurance and real estate industries.

Meanwhile, the company recently built a hotel in Suzhou.

Samsung, which employs 50,000 people in the mainland, also operates a clothing business through one of its subsidiaries, the Samsung Fashion Trading Co.