ZTE Corporation (formerly Zhongxing Telecommunication Equipment Corporation) (SZSE: 000063; SEHK: 0763) is a Chinese multinational telecommunications equipment and systems company headquartered in Shenzhen, China. It is the world's fifth-largest telecoms equipment maker measured by 2011 revenues (after Ericsson, Huawei, Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia Siemens Networks) and the world's fourth-largest mobile phone manufacturer measured by 2011 unit sales.
ZTE's core products are wireless, exchange, access, optical transmission and data telecommunications gear; mobile phones; and telecommunications software. It also offers products that provide value-added services, such as video on demand and streaming media. ZTE primarily sells products under its own name but it is also an OEM, manufacturing some products which retail under other brand names.
ZTE was founded in 1985 by a group of state-owned enterprises associated with China's Ministry of Aerospace.
ZTE, like many large Chinese companies, has its roots in the Chinese State having been created in 1985 by a group of state-owned enterprises associated with China's Ministry of Aerospace. Ties to the state notwithstanding, the corporation is publicly traded having made an initial public offering (IPO) on the Shenzhen stock exchange in 1997 and another on the Hong Kong stock exchange in December, 2004.