MUMBAI: Tata Communications said that it has acquired 50 percent stake in a Chinese telecom company, China Enterprise Communications, for an undisclosed sum."We have signed an equity joint venture agreement with the shareholders of China Enterprise Communications, which will become effective after the necessary approvals from the relevant government and regulatory bodies in China," Tata Communications MD & CEO N. Srinath told reporters.

Zhu Jianhua, president and CEO of China Enterprise Communication Ltd told reporters, "The strategic cooperation between China Enterprise Communication and Tata Communications was carried out under the background of economic globalization and the fact that India and China are driving the 21st century world economy."

"Through the cooperation with Tata Communications, we will focus on the development of the domestic market to provide high quality networking service to multinational enterprises in China as well as China's domestic enterprises. We intend to grow the strength of the CEC brand," he added.This is the maiden entry of Tata Communications into China. Earlier this year, the Indian company had announced that it will invest USD 2 billion in emerging markets.

"Our investment in the Chinese company has been modest compared to our investments in other ventures," Srinath said.This acquisition of 50 percent stake opens a new market, which is the fastest growing in the world, for Tata Communications hitherto closed for it, he added.China Enterprise Communications is a value-added telecommunications services and integrated IT solutions provider, headquartered in Beijing.

CEC was recently awarded a nationwide IP-VPN service license by China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII), the first telecom value added service license granted to a non facilities based service provider. CEC provides VPN connectivity reach into 347 cities in China, including a dual-pop presence in tier-one cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. By this tie-up, Tata's customers would get a chance to enter China and the Chinese company would get global connectivity, he added.

Tata Communication also received a commitment from F-secure Corporation, the global leader in providing security as a service through mobile operators and internet service providers, to expand reach in India by partnering with Tata Communication.