BEIJING, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- ZTE, China's largest publicly listed telecommunications equipment company, is making moves to step into auto manufacturing.
After more than a year of negotiations, the telecom giant has acquired a controlling stake in bus manufacturer Zhuhai Guangtong Bus, marking its entrance into the field of new energy vehicles.
Under the agreement, ZTE plans to launch new industry pillars to facilitate the research, development, design and manufacture of new energy cars, along with supporting the operations of vehicular networking applications, big data, auto-pilot technologies and cloud computing centers.
According to an official announcement, ZTE has secured an order of 204 eight-meter electric buses from Shenzhen Western Bus.
The company is expected to enhance customer experience by integrating internet and artificial intelligence into its vehicles, said Tian Feng, Deputy General Manager of ZTE's new energy automobile division.
So far, the company has already developed several types of vehicle models, including luxury coaches, double-decker buses, 12-meter tourist buses, and city express buses.
Its products are now sold to many countries and regions, such as Germany, the Netherland, Australia, Italy, Israel, Thailand, Vietnam, as well as China's Hong Kong and Macao.
With its global headquarters and R & D centers in Zhuhai, south China's Guangdong Province, ZTE aims to eventually reach an annual output of 10,000 new energy buses and 20,000 electric vehicles. (CRI English)
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