ZTE Corp has signed an agreement with Pakistan to establish a research and development center in the country. It will cover telecom, software and the IT support sectors, the Shenzhen-based company said on its Website.

　　The company's investment in the center is US$350 million, China's biggest Internet portal Sina.com reported yesterday without naming its source.

　　The center will also provide training and customer service for ZTE's international clients and will become the company's most important foothold in the South Asia region, the Hong Kong-listed firm said in the statement.

　　"The center's establishment shows Chinese telecom equipment technology, including 3G and next generation network (NGN), has become similar to the world's most advanced level," Hou Weigui, ZTE's chairman, said in the statement.

　　"Now we are capable of serving foreign companies."

　　The agreement was signed during Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's recent visit to south Asian countries. Wen attended the signing ceremony, ZTE said.

　　"Chinese telecom equipment's global experience will help them strengthen their technologies and services," said Zhang Ying, a senior telecom analyst at Analysys International, a Beijing-based IT consulting firm.

　　"That will help them get more market share in the domestic market after China issues 3G licenses (in the second half)," Zhang added.

　　At present, the majority of the Chinese telecom market is controlled by foreign giants like Ericsson, Motorola and Siemens.

　　Lu Junzhi, ZTE's spokesman, declined to reveal the staff number and the investment in the center yesterday.

　　In India, ZTE has made a decision to build a 4,000-square-meter manufacturing plant to produce code division multiple access, or CDMA, network equipment.

　　The company won a deal to construct a national NGN network in Pakistan in 2003.