Cell C in big China deal

Hong Kong - China's ZTE said it won a contract worth $378 million to supply telecoms equipment and services to South African mobile operator Cell C (Pty) Ltd.

In its latest overseas deal, ZTE will provide GSM systems and services to Cell C, ZTE said in a statement released late on Tuesday.

ZTE and hometown rival Huawei Technologies have been two of China's biggest success stories in their efforts to expand abroad, selling their telecoms equipment to a wide range of operators in both developing and developed markets.

ZTE's revenue is expected to jump 38% in 2009 to 61 billion yuan, while profit is expected to rise 45% to 2.41 billion yuan, with much of the growth coming from a surge in exports.

- Reuters