TAINAN, Taiwan, Dec 29 Reuters Chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd TSMC, began mass production of its most advanced chips in southern Taiwan on Thursday and the company39;s chairman said it would continue to expand capacity on the island.

The longawaited mass production of chips with 3nanometre technology comes as attention focuses on the world39;s largest contract chipmaker39;s investment plans at home and abroad. TSMC has a dominant position as a maker of advanced chips used in technology from cellphones to fighter jets.

TSMC is maintaining its technology leadership while investing significantly in Taiwan, continuing to invest and prosper with the environment, TSMC Chairman Mark Liu told a ceremony marking the production and capacity expansion in the southern city of Tainan.

Liu said demand for the firm39;s 3nanometre chip was very strong, driven by new technologies including 5G and highperformance computing products. He did not elaborate.

Earlier this month, TSMC said it would more than triple its planned investment at its new Arizona plant to 40 billion, among the largest foreign investments in U.S. history.

The Taiwanese company, which counts Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp among its major clients, is also building a chip plant in Japan and has said it was in the early stages of reviewing a potential expansion into Germany.

In an apparent response to the concerns that TSMC39;s foreign investment would undermine Taiwan39;s key position in…