Becomes third company in recent weeks to open Chinese facility TAIPEI, Taiwan — BEA Systems Inc. opened a research and development center in Beijing on Thursday, to support the company’s Asian expansion plans. The center is the first such facility opened by the company in Asia, according to a statement.Work at the R&D center will focus on the development of technology that will be used to help BEA build on its current products, such as WebLogic Platform 8.1, and explore new markets, the company said. Specific details, such as the number of workers to be employed at the R&D center, were not disclosed.BEA is the third company to announce a Chinese R&D center in recent weeks. On Sept. 9, NEC Corp. opened an R&D center in the Tsinghua Science Park in Beijing to develop mobile information systems for the next-generation Internet in China. The facility will initially recruit around 30 Chinese engineers to work at the center during its first year, NEC said. It plans to increase that number to expand to around 100 engineers within three years, it said.Chip maker Intel Corp. also recently announced plans to establish a research and development center in Beijing. The center, which will be set up through a partnership with Chinese computer maker Legend Group Ltd., will focus on the development of secure computing and next-generation Internet technologies for the Chinese market. Software DevelopmentTechnology IndustrySmall and Medium Business