High-tech companies in Zhongguancun, the technology hub in Beijing, are seeking bigger markets through mergers and acquisitions.

Tsinghua Unigroup Co, a subsidiary of Tsinghua Holdings Co funded by Tsinghua University, recently bought two big mobile chipmakers.

The acquisitions of Spreadtrum Co and RDA Microelectronics Co in December 2013 and July 2014 cost more than $ 2 billion.

Other major businesses of the company include medicine, urban gas and IT .

"Chip design is an industry that needs big investment and good market environment and Tsinghua Unigroup can provide such conditions," said Zhao Weiguo, chairman and CEO of Tsinghua Unigroup.

Vice-Premier Ma Kai said it was the central government's strategic decision to promote development of the chip industry. Zhao said the company and its partners plan to build Tsinghua Unigroup Co a world-class communications chip provider in a decade.

They have also set up educational institutes to train chip design talent and attract investment to develop products.

In September, Intel Co agreed to invest up to 9 billion yuan ($ 1.5 billion) in Spreadtrum Co and RDA Microelectronics Co, according to a report from Intel Newsroom.

Another big company in Zhongguancun, mobile security software maker NetQin Co, has also expanded through M&As. Since listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011, it has purchased FLMobile Co, a mobile game supplier, Beijing Nation Sky Co for mobile management and Rightiphone Co, which specializes in mobile applications.

Statistics from an independent research institution showed that in 2013 FLMobile had the biggest share of the Apple mobile game market in China.

By the end of 2013, it had 20 kinds of games for the iOS platform and 69 for Android. Cooperation between Beijing Nation Sky Co and Rightiphone Co makes NetQin a big player in providing government agencies and enterprises with solutions in mobile phone hardware and applications.

Clients of NetQin include China's National Bureau of Statistics, Anbang Insurance Group Co and GE Healthcare.

The company now has nearly 590 million users from more than 150 countries.

Ourpalm Games Co, one of China's leading social network Web and smartphone game developers, is another mature enterprise in Zhongguancun.

It acquired three game developers in 2013 including PlayCrab Co.

This year, it invested 22 million yuan to boost the registered capital of ZhuChao Game Co, an operator of mobile games.

The company made its first public offering on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2012. OurPalm had profits of 560 million yuan in the first three quarters of this year, up 129.37 percent year-on-year.

songmengxing@chinadaily.com.cn