Telecom network equipment giant Huawei Technologies and U.S. security software maker Symantec Corp. have launched a joint venture in southwest China.

The new company, Huawei-Symantec Inc., based in Chengdu in the southwestern Sichuan Province, is 51 percent owned by Huawei and 49 percent by Symantec. It features services in storage and Internet safety.

Huawei will provide technical support and a 750-member engineering team, while Symantec will offer software permission in storage and Internet safety, as well as 150 million U.S. dollars in investment.

The deal received the green light from the European Commission, the anti-trust watchdog of European Union, late last year under a simplified review procedure.

The new firm aims to enable Huawei to compete with technology giants such as Hewlett-Packard and IBM. It will also provide a fresh boost for Symantec's security and data management business.

The global market for the storage and Internet safety industry was estimated at 23 billion U.S. dollars, with the Chinese market accounting for 1.1 billion U.S. dollars.

(Xinhua News Agency February 19, 2008)