Beijing/Berlin, Aug 19 (DPA) Foxconn, the world's largest manufacturer of electronic components, which made headlines recently because of a spate of suicides by employees, wants to create up to 400,000 new jobs.

The number of jobs in China alone is set to increase to 1.2-1.3 million within a year, a Foxconn official told financial news agency Bloomberg Wednesday.

The reason cited was a growth in business. The company's sales increased by 50 percent in the first half of the year.

The Taiwan-based Foxconn produces components for Western electronics giants such as Apple, Hewlett-Packard and Dell. For the Chinese media market, they created a joint venture with the Metro Group, which plans a huge expansion in Asia.

Foxconn received great criticism after more than 10 workers from its factory in Shenzhen, in southern China, committed suicide this year. The suicides launched a debate over working conditions, low wages and a strict management style within the company.

Foxconn has denied the accusations, although wages were increased, and sometimes even doubled, in the wake of the deaths. In another reaction to events earlier this year, Foxconn decided to build new factories nearer the residences of its employees.

Chinese experts in particular have blamed the suicides on the personal isolation of many young workers who come to work in Foxconn's huge factories.