Dell Inc. Wednesday announced plans to expand its China Design Center (CDC) by adding an additional 200 employees. The move reflects China's growing importance in the global technology industry as more than just a center of low-cost manufacturing,

The announcement of the expansion was made by Dell Chairman Michael Dell during a visit to Shanghai.

Established in 2002, Dell's CDC in Shanghai started off doing design work for desktop computers, before expanding to mobile computers and peripherals. The center also handles some component validation and software development work, the company said. The current number of staff employed at the CDC was not immediately available.

Dell is currently in the midst of an Asian tour.

Earlier this week, during a stopover in Bangalore, India, he announced plans to double the company's Indian workforce to 20,000 within three years. While most of those new employees are expected to staff Dell's call centers, the company plans to double the number of Indian engineers working on product development to 600 within the next two years.

Both India and China are important markets for Dell. Following the easing of Indian restrictions on PC imports, the company has seen its sales there skyrocket, although the overall numbers are relatively small compared to other countries in Asia.

China is currently Dell's second-largest market in Asia, behind Japan. The company said its shipments there increased by 29 percent during the most recent quarter, compared to the same period one year earlier.