Varian Medical Systems has broken ground here on a new manufacturing facility for producing medical linear accelerators for treating cancer with radiotherapy.

The company has established a wholly foreign-owned enterprise that will own and operate the facility, where it will manufacture medical linear accelerators that are designed for the Chinese market and for global export. The new facility adds capacity complimentary to Varian’s principal manufacturing site in Palo Alto, Calif., and positions the company to meet increasing global demand for its medical linear accelerators.

Construction on the estimated $12 million facility will be complete in March, and the company expects to begin its first product shipments from the facility in July, said Tim Guertin, president and CEO of Varian Medical Systems.

“This important project expands Varian’s global manufacturing and service capability in the radiation therapy market with the greatest growth potential in the world,” Guertin said.

The 134,000 square foot plant will employ about 100 workers and be located in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, an industrial zone on the southern edge of Beijing.

The expansion builds on Varian’s existing sales and service operation in China, where it has a base of more than 250 linear accelerators in leading academic centers, hospitals and local cancer clinics throughout the country.

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