Cisco Systems is said to be ready to announce a partnership with China information technology firm Inspur Group during Chinese President Xi Jinping s Wednesday visit to Seattle.
The report in the Wall Street Journal quoted sources who said a small investment by Cisco could grow and that the deal could include Inspur reselling Cisco networking gear and jointly developing hardware. A Cisco spokesman declined to comment on the report.
Inspur is an information technology company headquartered in Jinan, China. Last year it unveiled an initiative to take business in China away from IBM. Inspur is a much smaller company.
Cisco s sales in China have suffered in recent years, and were hit hard by the revelations of former U.S. National Security Agency employee Edward Snowden of NSA spying on other countries, including China, with the help of U.S. tech companies.
China has launched a program to bolster the nation s tech sector with a goal of making it a world-class competitor to companies it now buys from, which include many of Silicon Valley s major tech firms. Since then, a steady parade of U.S. tech companies have announced partnerships, investments and other deals with Chinese companies.
In June, Cisco unveiled a $10 billion investment to promote the development of a high tech industry in China. Agreements were signed with China s National Development and Reform Commission, focusing on innovation, and the Association of Universities of Appled Science, focusing on education.
President Xi Jinping is meeting in Seattle with U.S. tech heavy-hitters including Apple s CEO Tim Cook and Microsoft s founder Bill Gates and CEO Satya Nadella.
Photo: Cisco sign (Paul Sakuma, Associated Press)
