Dunn, Nortel's president and chief executive, made his visit to mark the Canadian telecom giant's 30th anniversary of doing business in China.

"Every time I come here, I have a feeling of astonishment..... China is so advanced in telecom technology. It is unbelievably successful, no one else ever did that in such a short time," remarked Dunn .

The company president said the extraordinary pace of development of China's telecoms market, especially in the last 10 years, is one which nobody could hope to match.

He said the telecom technologies adopted by China are as advanced as those in the leading North American telecoms market.

As a leader in packet data exchange and optical transmission, Nortel has been one of the most severely affected by the global downturn in the industry.

But in China, the most rapidly developing telecoms market, Nortel has achieved major success and won a series of large contracts from all of China's telecom carriers.

Nortel's equipment and technology has been used in telecom networks around China.

Nortel has won contracts across the spectrum of the industry, including the wireless, wireline, optical and business clients estimated to be worth more than US$2 billion since the start of 2001, said Dunn.

As China continues to play a more and more important role in Nortel Networks' global map, Dunn said he would expects to visit China more often to further exploit the potential of the market and to maintain close co-operation with local partners.

Nortel last week won a major contract from China Unicom, who will purchase equipment worth US$280 million to upgrade the mobile network.

Encouraged by the good news, Nortel Network's stocks in New York increased by 23 per cent in a day.

As a technology flagship, Nortel Networks focuses more on technological innovation, as opposed to manufacturing.

"China's has many telecom talents at a world level and they contributed a lot to Nortel's global technology leadership," Dunn said.

By establishing research and development laboratories in Beijing and Guangzhou, Nortel will further tap Chinese innovative and creative talents, added the 47-year-old president.

Dunn said he was always encouraged by his visits to China.

(China Daily October 29, 2002)