Xi's visit will boost telecoms and IT cooperation in CEE area

President Xi Jinping's visit to Serbia and Poland is expected to improve cooperation in telecommunications and information technology and thus further connect China and the Central and Eastern European countries with the digital Silk Road.

China Telecom Europe is keen to develop further in the CEE region with expansion strategies being a mix of merger and acquisition approach as well as the partnerships with local players, says Cao Li, managing director of China Telecom Europe.

The company has provided services to the Czech Republic, Serbia and Poland, countries the Chinese President has visited within less than three months this year, according to Cao.

He says by involving projects with high-level officials in Central and Eastern European countries, it will help raise the company profile and open new business opportunities in those regions.

As each of the industries needs more Internet of Things, cloud computing, and big data, China Telecom Europe is working on merging the service from the traditional telecom industry to the Integration Communication Technology (ICT) service.

Nevertheless, Cao says, despite the warm political and economic climate, Chinese telecommunication companies still need to find a way to deliver good services to customers, adding “as there are also local competitors, we have to extend our advantages to try to satisfy our customer requirement.”

China Telecom has a strong network that links Asia and Europe and can deliver service with very low latency from China to Europe thanks to four different routes and many undersea cable systems, Cao says.

As the company mainly focuses on Chinese customers and foreign multinational companies, which usually have subsidiaries in Chinese Mainland or Asia-Pacific area, China Telecom Europe can be the gateway to satisfy all the requirements and provide some good solution for the customers, he adds.

Although most people think western technology is good, Cao says China nowadays also produces great technology as a direct result of its economic mighty. For example, in the platform of Vietnam, Chinese products are more competitive not only on the price, but also on the quality.

He says China Telecom Europe is looking for local partners with unique technology, a good portion of local customer base and sound financial ability.

Cao notices that bilateral relations between China and UK have grown fast and business opportunities have increased tremendously after President Xi's visit to the UK last October.

He anticipates seeing the same situation being created between China and the Central and Eastern European countries, as that will help bring greater opportunities for Chinese back-grounded companies to develop their overseas business, including China Telecom.

To contact the reporter: wangmingjie@mail.chinadailyuk.com

Editor: Chris Peterson