ZTE Corp., China's second-largest telecommunication equipment maker, said it had entered into a commercial trial network cooperation agreement with China Telecommunications Corp.

But the company had not entered into any "definitive agreement" for the sale of equipment to China Telecommunications, it said, rejecting recent media reports.

The Standard newspaper reported last week ZTE won an exclusive contract to build a nationwide fixed-line voice network for China Telecom Corp.

ZTE Chairman Hou Weigui said in a statement that the company was supplying China Telecom some next-generation network equipment for the trial run, as part of industry practice to allow the buyer to try the equipment on the network prior major network rollouts.

"It is only upon completion of commercial trials that a definitive agreement for the sale and purchase of equipment is entered into, if at all," he noted.

He said trials would start within the year and would span many provincial capitals across China, particularly in regional centers Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. The work would consist of the construction of softswitch overlaying networks, he added.

Trading in ZTE shares was suspended Friday.

(Shenzhen Daily June 7, 2005)