Beijing, P.R. China, September 22, 2003-China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec Corp.), one of China's Fortune 500 enterprises, and Cisco Systems® announced today that Sinopec Corp. will upgrade its backbone network using Cisco® equipment and solutions. The network upgrade will enable the integration of multiple applications on a single information platform and connect hundreds of Sinopec subsidiaries and thousands of its gas stations.

The completion of the broadband network will help strengthen Sinopec's core competitiveness by centralizing the financial- and sales-management, electronic-purchasing, and marketing systems. Automatic office administration and data analysis systems will also be employed to improve management efficiency.

A spokesperson of Sinopec Corp., commented, "In addition to providing stable, reliable, and cost-effective networking solutions, Cisco also brings on board its proven global expertise, which we feel is crucial for us as we move forward in post-WTO China."

A Cisco Systems vice president, Fredy Cheung, agreed, adding, "Success does not only depend on having cutting-edge networking solutions. To truly make our customers competitive, we share our experience working, in this case, with their international peers in the oil and chemical industry. Our cooperation with Sinopec sets another example of how early Cisco involvement can improve an organization's business model and competitive strength."

The Cisco solution is based on Cisco 7600 and 3600 series routers. Sinopec Corp. will also deploy other Cisco value-added services and applications, including H.323 Multimedia Conferencing, virtual private network (VPN) and IP telephony, to support its new infrastructure.