(Yicai) Dec. 13 -- Nvidia has been bulking up its research and development team in China over the past year, with most of the new hires specialists in areas such as autonomous driving, industry insiders said.

The US chip giant has added hundreds of R&D staff this year to support Chinese businesses while also contributing to its global R&D efforts, the sources told Yicai

The headcount across Nvidia’s offices in Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen has risen to about 3,600 from nearly 3,000 at the end of last year, Yicai learned. The California-based company has not disclosed any details.

Besides data centers, Nvidia is expected to take significant market share in China's smart manufacturing and self-driving technology fields, said Sheng Linghai, an analyst at market researcher Gartner.

China is an important market for Nvidia, the company said on Weibo, after clarifying that recent online rumors that it will cut supplies to the country are false. Nvidia is committed to providing top-quality and highly efficient products and services to its Chinese clients, the firm added.

The rumors began after China’s State Administration for Market Regulation announced on Dec. 9 that it had placed Nvidia under investigation on suspicion of violating the country’s anti-monopoly law in relation to its acquisition of Mellanox Technologies, an Israeli-US maker of computer networking equipment, in 2020.

A spokesperson for Nvidia China told Yicai that the company was “happy to answer any questions the regulator may have about our business.”

On Nov. 25, Nvidia inaugurated a new office in Beijing's Zhongguancun high-tech center, also known as ‘China's Silicon Valley,’ making it the firm’s second in China’s capital.

Editor: Martin Kadiev