One of the world´s fastest growing telecommunications companies, ZTE Corporation (Shenzhen: 000063, Hong Kong: 0763) has established a presence in the Benelux region with the opening of a new office in Den Haag, the Netherlands.

The Netherlands office follows the establishment in recent years of ZTE offices in Spain, Portugal and the UK and Western Europe regional headquarters in Paris. More recently ZTE set up its Eastern Europe regional headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey, a regional resource centre in Budapest, Hungary and an R&D centre in Sweden.

The Dutch office will target the region´s wireless, networking and terminals markets. It will initially have around 5 employees, working mainly in after-sales services and technical support.

"Our new office will enable us to provide improved local support and services to Benelux and Northern Europe customers." said ZTE Netherlands technical director Dr. Bo Tian.

"ZTE´s strategy in Europe is totally focused on localisation. We will work closely with local partners, recruit local employees and set up more regional centres for R&D and after-sale services," Dr. Bo Tian added. "We expect that the office will expand rapidly over the coming year."

ZTE has already achieved significant milestones in the European market this year including: the successful completion of a 3G European Roadshow which reached top operators in 10 European countries; becoming a global supplier of ADSL equipment to France Telecom which has 118.6 million customers worldwide; an agreement with Alcatel to have ZTE´s CDMA radio access portfolio integrated into Alcatel´s CDMA end-to-end solutions; a research and development memorandum of understanding with Portugal Telecom; and a contract to supply Skylink, Russia´s largest CDMA operator, with an advanced CDMA network for Murmansk.
 
"ZTE´s presence will further enhance Den Haag´s reputation as an international city," said Mr Pieter Van Woense, the metropolitan councilor and chairman of the West Holland Foreign Investment Agency (WIFA). "We expect that the successful agreement between ZTE, the city of Den Haag and the WFIA will lead to more cooperation between Chinese and Netherlands telecoms companies. With ZTE´s establishment in Den Haag, we expect a positive contribution to both parties´ growth."

Founded in 1985, ZTE Corporation has been listed as an A-Share company on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange since 1997. In December 2004, ZTE was successfully listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange in Hong Kong, becoming the first Chinese company to hold both A shares and H shares. ZTE recorded contract sales of approximately USD 4,111 million in 2004. Currently, ZTE has more than 27,000 employees and over 33 offices worldwide, with its products widely deployed in over 100 countries and regions across five continents.