Telecommunications giant Motorola has signed an agreement to supply equipment worth US$394 million to China Mobile Communication Corporation (CMCC) in order to expand its network capacity in China.

The US mobile phone manufacturer said in a statement published on its website that it had signed the contracts in the first half of this year, and about 60 percent of the sales included in the contracts had been registered during that period.

However, Motorola recorded a loss of US$28 million in the second quarter following its first-quarter losses, its first back-to-back losses in five years, according to its financial report announced in July.

Its weak performance has prompted analysts to say it had slipped to third in the global mobile phone market behind Nokia of Finland and Samsung of the Republic of Korea in the second quarter.

The company said it had provided equipment and project services for the Chinese company, which operates a network based on the GSM standard of wireless communication, and had helped expand or update the network in 16 Chinese provinces covered by the CMCC service.

China Mobile is the largest mobile communication operator in China with more than 330 million users by April this year.

(Xinhua News Agency August 14, 2007)