Pfizer of the US has signed an MOU with Wuhan government to set up an R&D centre in the city. The investment would make Pfizer the first global pharmaceutical company to establish a presence in the area. The company said it was attracted to Wuhan because of its solid research base and high quality workforce.

Pfizer plans to recruit about 200 people for the centre over the next three years. It said the human resource talent in Wuhan was similar to that of Shanghai in terms of English language and research skills, while wages were much lower. The company has more than 360 employees at its Shanghai R&D centre that was set up in 2005.

China Daily saw the move as part of a more general shift by some multinational companies to inland cities for equally skilled, but less expensive workers. The newspaper cited Intel, the world’s largest semiconductor chip manufacturer, which is moving some of its assembly and test facilities from Shanghai to Sichuan province in order to trim costs.