SHANGHAI, June 17, 2010 - China's largest Internet services provider, Tencent, and Cisco, worldwide leader in networking, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to build a long-term strategic relationship. According to the MoU, each party will utilize its respective industry experience and platform advantages to construct a one-stop, interactive enterprise platform based on Cisco Unified Communications through technological innovation, joint promotion, and the establishment of joint teams, so as to further stimulate local innovation and accelerate modernization of traditional industries in China.
"As part of our sustainable and long term strategy for China, Cisco is committed to strengthening our cooperation and partnership with local businesses such as Tencent" said John Chambers, chairman and CEO of Cisco. "Our Cultivated Innovation approach of sharing global best practices with Chinese companies is creating new business models and bringing social and economic development through the power of the network."
"Today's announcement is a clear example of our strategic approach to accelerating local innovation, win-win partnerships through collaboration," said Owen Chan, president and CEO of Cisco Greater China Theatre. "Tencent's development goals fit very well with our long-term strategy in China. Moving forward, Cisco and Tencent will cooperate closely to achieve a win-win situation."
Chinese government has been actively promoting the integration of industrialization and informationization. The joint forces between Tencent and Cisco will not only enable both companies to benefit from the rapidly developing internet industry, but also further accelerate development in informationization and advance the integration of the two concepts.
Pony Ma, chairman and CEO of Tencent, said, "The development of a green economy, based on informationization, has aroused attention all over the world. We are now at an important stage in the integration of informationization and industrialization. We are pleased to witness more and more renowned enterprises, including Tencent, which are engaged in the global development of a green and information-based economy, and in this we are all playing a vital role. With our massive user base and advanced internet technology, Tencent has provided a one-stop, online lifestyle platform for all users. Meanwhile, we have also made efforts in research and innovation. We expect our cooperation with Cisco will set an example for promoting the development of the green economy."
Martin Lau, president of Tencent, said, "We are glad to enter into this long-term strategic relationship with Cisco. Utilizing the resources of both companies, we will further explore the potential arising from the new internet technologies and new models which target at the enterprises market. We also hope that our joint efforts can facilitate the development of Chinese enterprises towards informationization and sustainable development."
The collaboration between Cisco and Tencent will maximize the potential capabilities of both parties by drawing on Cisco's leading networking experience and solutions and Tencent's massive user base and rich online applications. The two will collaborate to advance unified communications in the China market, while Tencent's advantages in personal online services will be more effectively extended to enterprise customers as they cultivate this market and accelerate the infomationization of China's traditional industries.
According to the MoU signed today, the collaboration between Cisco and Tencent will cover the following areas:
Unified Communications Solution
Cisco and Tencent will jointly develop unified communications solutions that will enable Chinese enterprises and institutions to truly take advantage of the power of unified communications and enhance collaboration with their business partners and customers. In addition, the two companies will also cooperate in developing channels, marketing and support plans to bring this one-stop unified communications solution to the China market.
Data Center Technologies
The two companies will discuss the establishment of a joint lab focused on research of a wide range of technologies. The lab will enable Tencent to meet its data center needs. Tencent and Cisco will cooperate in developing a large-scale network platform which will better serve the needs of Internet service providers in China.
Market Development
Cisco will share its experience in global operations and development. Both parties will work to explore the potential market opportunities. As the platform for communication and entertainment, the network increasingly changes how people live, work and play, and this change is creating tremendous opportunities for Cisco and Tencent. Both parties will work to jointly advance this transformation and deliver unique value to the market.
About Tencent
Founded in November, 1998, Tencent, Inc. has grown into China's largest and most used Internet service portal. In its ten-year history, Tencent has been able to maintain steady and fast-paced growth by always putting its users first. On June 16th, 2004, Tencent Holdings Limited (SEHK 700) went public on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
As of March , 2010, Active Instant Messaging ("IM") user accounts have reached 568.6 million. Peak simultaneous online user accounts for IM services have reached 105.3million. QQ.com has become China's most visited Internet portal website. PaiPai.com has also become China's second largest Internet shopping platform.
