BEIJING (Yonhap News) ― A chip complex under construction by Samsung Electronics Co. in the Chinese city of Xian is expected to be fully operational by the end of this year, state media reported Saturday.

The report by the China Daily suggested that Samsung’s $7 billion project to build its first overseas plant for NAND flash memory chips is on schedule for completion.

This week, Samsung said it will invest another $500 million into Xian to build a facility for packaging and testing chips at the chip complex.

An Jianli, director of the administration committee of the Xian Hi-Tech Industry Development Zone, told the newspaper that construction of the main plant for Samsung’s memory chip project has already been completed and further work is underway.

“The factory is expected to be fully operational by the end of the year, and it will have a monthly output of 100,000 chips with annual sales worth 66 billion yuan ($10.78 billion),” the report said.