ZTE to invest in high-tech industrial park in Brazil

Move part of Chinese kit maker's plans to drive revenues outside its home market.Chinese telecommunications equipment maker ZTE Corp. said Wednesday it will invest in a high-tech industrial park in Hortolandia, Sao Paulo, which will also house the firm's first research and development facility in Latin America.The industrial park includes a research and development center, a production plant, a training center as well as a logistics center, ZTE said in a statement.The value of the investment by ZTE in the park hasn't yet been finalized, but it will be made by the firm's locally registered unit, ZTE Do Brasil. ZTE has around 600 employees in Brazil now, but in the absence of its own manufacturing facility it works with local partners."This unit will be responsible for servicing the whole of South America and it will consolidate Brazil as the operational center of the region," Yuan Lie, president of ZTE's Brazil operations, said in the statement.A person familiar with the situation told Dow Jones Newswires earlier the industrial park is expected to create about 2,000 local jobs.The investment reflects ZTE's ambition to grow outside its home market. While it is a major global supplier of telecom hardware, it has faced political opposition to its plans to expand in areas including the U.S., Europe and India.Last year, ZTE had total revenue of CNY70.264 billion. Revenue from its international operations grew 27.5% to CNY38.066 billion and accounted for 54.2% of total operating revenue. For the first time last year, the U.S. and European markets contributed the largest portion of overseas revenue.In addition to telecom equipment, the company makes wireless devices including mobile phones and tablets.ZTE had a 10.9% share of mobile infrastructure market revenue in the first half of last year totaling $15.2 billion, according to research firm IHS iSuppli. Read Online fior More Information