Cisco Marches Into China With $16B Expansion

Network king partners with Chinese firm on censored Internet
By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 1, 2007 11:33 AM CDT
Cisco Marches Into China With $16B Expansion
Cisco Chief Executive John Chambers, right, toasts a champagne with Jack Ma, chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group after witnessing a joint ventures partnership signing agreement at a hotel in Beijing, China, Thursday, Nov. 1, 2007. Network gear maker Cisco Systems Inc. on Thursday announced a multi-year,...   (Associated Press)

Cisco Systems, the giant of network gear, has announced a long-term, $16 billion expansion into Chinese markets, reports the AP. The multi-part expansion includes doubling Cisco's manufacturing in the country, a venture capital program in collaboration with a government bank, and a partnership with China's largest commerce website to produce business services.

Although China has the world's second-greatest population of Internet users, the web remains heavily censored, and human rights activists have warned Cisco against aiding the government in monitoring Chinese Internet use. Yet Cisco's CEO brushed off those concerns: "One thing tech companies cannot do, in my opinion, is involve themselves in politics in a country." (More Cisco stories.)

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