Despite weak demand, China Putian Corporation, the country's largest telecom equipment vendor, plans to build a 5 billion yuan (US$602.4 million) industrial park in Shanghai in the next five years.
The 66.67-hectare project will be constructed in the Shanghai Comprehensive Industrial Development Zone in the city's southwest Fengxian County.
One of its first projects is expected to be a 500 million yuan (US$60.24 million) factory to produce the Xiaolingtong, a wireless terminal with most of the functions of mobile phones for the same fee as a fixed-line phone.
UTStarcom, one of the three makers of the Xiaolingtong, sold more than 3 million terminals in China last year.
Putian, an industry arm of the former Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, is now directly under the leadership of the central government. It has been ranked as China's top telecom equipment vendor for two consecutive years. Last year it had a revenue of 64.2 billion yuan (US$7.73 billion).
Putian owns over 50 affiliated subsidiaries, including five listed companies - Beijing's Capel Group, Shanghai Posts & Telecommunications Equipment, Chengdu Cable, Nanjing Putian and Ningbo Bird.
(china.org.cn November 25, 2002)
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