China has the world's largest telecommunications network, and produces the most number of mobile phones. Chinese telecom equipment giants have jostled for market share, ever since foreign competitors entered the market after the country's accession to the WTO. Chinese telecom equipment producers now take up 80 percent of the global market.

A ZTE booth at China International Exhibition Center in Beijing last year. The company expects to ship 12 million smart terminals in 2011, almost 90 percent of which will be smartphones. [China Daily]

ZTE, one of the largest phone network gear producers. In September, it was chosen as a supplier for Japanese mobile operator, Softbank. Over the past years, ZTE has grown into a multi-national firm with operations in more than 140 countries and regions across the globe.

Hou Weigui, chairman of ZTE Company Ltd. said: "Now, Chinese producers take up 80 percent of the global telecommunications market. But back in 2000, that figure was only 20 to 30 percent."

Wu Hequan with Chinese Academy of Engineering said: "These achievements are hard earned. When China first joined the WTO, we were worried that Chinese enterprises would be taken over by foreign competitors."

Those concerns were not groundless. China opened up its service sector and lowered tariffs on imports following the country's accession to the WTO. The inflow of foreign investment took the market by surprise in the beginning. In the telecom industry, foreign companies and joint ventures once accounted for 80 percent of the Chinese market.

But Chinese companies learned from their foreign competitors and upgraded their own technology and management techniques. Many not only survived, but also made their way to outside China by taking advantage of the multilateral trade system that all WTO members abide by.

China has built up the largest telecom network in the world, and it has the largest output of mobile phones.

Wu Hequan said: "Chinese companies have adapted to the rules of the market economy. They did not miss out on the opportunities brought about by globalization. The growth of Chinese companies is a strong fundamental of the Chinese economy, it also injects vitality into global economic growth."

Over the past 10 years, over 340-thousand foreign companies have opened businesses in China. 490 of them are listed in the world's top 500 companies.