National Semiconductor to Build Plant in China

National Semiconductor Corp., a computer-chip maker that gets about 45% of sales from the Asia-Pacific region, will build its first plant in China for testing, assembly and packaging.

National Semiconductor will spend as much as $200 million over the next five years to build and staff the plant in east China’s Jiangsu Province. The facility will employ about 500.

The Santa Clara, Calif., firm, whose largest customer is South Korea-based Samsung Electronics Co., has assembly and testing plants in Malaysia and Singapore.

Shares rose 88 cents to $17.70 on the NYSE.