The conference linked together executives from 20 major domestic companies and 60 international electronic suppliers.

"Motorola will further increase its China content from the present 69 percent via local purchasing," said Bob Perez, general manager of Motorola's supply chain operations.

He said Motorola will buy more from local firms and introduce them to the international market.

Perez came to China with not only 60 international suppliers but also a buying package of US$10 billion until 2006.

Being the first and second biggest supplier of mobile handset and network equipment in China, Motorola is expanding its local purchasing of components and raw materials to save costs, said Ruey Bin Kao, vice-president of Motorola's network equipment sector.

Kao said Motorola is very likely to surpass Sweden-based Ericsson this year to become the top mobile network equipment vendor in China. Around 45 international electronic products suppliers have set up joint ventures or have established factories in China.

Motorola has accumulated direct investment of US$3.4 billion in China and has brought with it US$4 billion worth of investment from its suppliers.

Being the biggest overseas investor here, Motorola recently launched a project in which it vowed to reach US$10 billion of investment from local manufacturing and local procurement before 2006.

"Domestic suppliers have obvious advantages in competitive pricing, quick response to the market and consistent high quality," Kao said.

In 2001, Motorola purchased 11.4 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion) worth of components from over 700 domestic suppliers, he said.

Via launching the conference for suppliers in China, Motorola will introduce more international electronic vendors and aims to select more domestic companies for its global supply chain, Kao said.

He said although the international telecom market is still suffering from the burst bubble, China will keep high growth despite the unfriendly environment.

(People's Daily April 24, 2002)