Ericsson, the Swedish telecoms company which employs 1,500 staff in Dublin and Athlone has won a $600 million contract from a unit of China Mobile, expanding its business in a key market.
The contract for GSM equipment would increase the reach of Guangdong Mobile Communication Corporation's GSM network to 36 million subscribers, Ericsson said in a statement.
Guangdong Mobile is part of China Mobile, the world's biggest mobile phone operator by the number of subscribers.
"The Chinese market is strategically important to Ericsson," the Swedish company's Chief Executive Mr Carl-Henric Svanberg said in the statement.
The Asia-Pacific region accounted for 25 per cent of Ericsson's mobile phone systems orders booked in the first half of 2003.
China accounted for nine per cent of Ericsson's total orders in January-June worth 55.4 billion crowns ($6.62 billion), making it Ericsson's second biggest market after the United States.
Ericsson has reported losses for 11 quarters in a row, mainly because most telephone operators have kept investment on ice amid a protracted global economic slowdown.
Ericsson said its largest joint venture partner in China, Nanjing Ericsson Panda Communication Company Ltd., would deliver the equipment starting this year. The expansion would be completed in 2004.