BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese smartphone and electric vehicle maker Xiaomi ( XIACF ) plans to invest at least 50 billion yuan ($6.93 billion) in chip design over at least 10 years starting from 2021, its founder Lei Jun said on Monday in a post on social media platform Weibo.

Xiaomi ( XIACF ) has invested 13.5 billion yuan to self-develop its advanced mobile chip XringO1, Lei said, adding that the company's chip design unit employs more than 2,500 people.

($1 = 7.2151 Chinese yuan renminbi)