Abuja — Leading global provider of network solutions and telecommunications equipment, ZTE Corporation of China says its handset manufacturing plant in Abuja is a demonstration of its commitment towards the production of phone handsets and accessories in Nigeria and a vehicle of technology acquisition and transfer of expertise to Nigerians.

It's local subsidiary, ZTE Nigeria Limited has in the last one year, employed over 100 Nigerians, ranging from telecom engineers, administrative and financial staff as well as establishing territorial offices in Lagos, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Bauchi, Jos, and Maiduguri.

The multi-million-dollar factory was established shortly after President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Minister of Communications, Chief Cornelius Adebayo visited The Peoples Republic of China, the home base of ZTE Corporation. During the visit, Obasanjo was said to have made a strong case for the Chinese firm not to keep Nigeria as a mere trading partner and consumer of its products, but a land where it could make some capital investments that will be mutually beneficial to both countries. The establishment of the factory has been hailed as a giant stride in the quest by Nigeria to evolve a truly made in Nigeria phone handset.

Marketing Manager, ZTE Nigeria Limited, Mr. Qian Yefa disclosed that the hand set manufacturing factory currently produces 1,000 handsets daily and has about 50 Nigerians in its employ, a situation that will likely improve in due course. He debunked allegations that the company's products made in Nigeria were of lower quality than those made by ZTE in China. Qian also dissociated the firm from any act of dishonesty in its dealings with its Nigerian employees, local contractors and the government, adding that its operations were guided by the principles of transparency and utmost good faith. He dismissed the alleged breach of contract leveled against ZTE by a local contracting firm as an outright falsehood and misrepresentation of facts, stressing those campaigns of calumny cannot stand against a leading world-class enterprise.

"This is a good start on the race to technology acquisition for Nigerian. ZTE will and has created job opportunities to boost the country's chances of acquiring the high technology involved in the manufacture of various telecommunication hardware and accessories partly to be sourced locally.

We are the pioneer of China's telecommunications equipment manufacturing industry, and a comprehensive provider of telecommunications equipment, mobile terminals and services.

"Mobile phones are the extension of our operations. As at the moment, we are the only Chinese mobile phone manufacturer that provides products of the three systems, namely GSM, CDMA and PHS and ZTE has independent intellectual properties to all the core software, hardware circuits, core chips and overall design and integration," he said.

With its range of products like WCDMA, CDMA, NGN, GSM, switching, access, and optical transmission maintaining presence in over 100 countries and regions, the global market is becoming ZTE's most important strategic market. It is China's largest listed telecom equipment manufacturer with shares publicly traded on both Hong Kong Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange. It was the only Chinese IT and telecom manufacturer listed in Business Week's 2005 Top 100 Information Technology Companies.