ZTE, one of China's biggest telecommunications equipment manufacturers, told local media that the company will invest over CNY6 billion to build a research and production base in Xi'an in the next few years.

Qiu Weizhao, vice executive president of ZTE, says that the Xi'an plant will focus on the Chinese-grown TD-SCDMA as well as the developments of other 3.5 gigabytes and 4 gigabytes communication products. On the completion of the plant, an annual sales of CNY18 billion will be possible, of which CNY2 billion will be contributed by software products and CNY16 million will be contributed by the hardware business. At the same time, the research and production base will offer 26,000 jobs for local people.

As one of the biggest listed telecommunications makers in China, ZTE is able to provide complete network solutions, including CDMA, GSM and PHS and the company achieved revenue of over CNY35.2 billion in its major communications sectors. In 2002, ZTE established a research institute in Xi'an Hi-Tech Industries Development Zone and about 2,800 research staff are now working there.