Ericsson Inc, the world's leading telecom equipment provider, said it would continue to invest heavily in China after Jan Malm, its Chinese president, unexpectedly died on Thursday.

"Our strategy in China won't change and we will continue investing in China, especially in research and development sectors," said Ericsson in a statement.

Malm, Ericsson China's president since 2000, died of a heart attack in Beijing aged 54 on Thursday night.

Jorn Husemoen, Ericsson China's current vice president and chief finance officer, will temporarily assume Malm's post. The company has yet to appoint a new head for its Chinese operation.

During his tenure, Malm, a 25-year veteran of the telecom industry, strengthened Ericsson's business in China to make the country the Swedish giant's second largest market worldwide, trailing only the United States.

China Mobile Communications Co and China United Telecommunications Corp, the two mobile operators in the country, are both customers of Ericsson.

In the first quarter, China business contributed about 9 percent of Ericsson's total revenue.

The company posted a quarterly profit in the fourth quarter of 2003, its first since 2001, after cutting more than 50,000 jobs. It said demand may increase this year.

Fourth-quarter net income was 142 million kronor (US$19.4 million), or 0.01 krona a share, compared with a loss of 8.3 billion kronor, or 0.58 krona, a year earlier.

Ericsson said its investment in research and development in China would grow at an annual rate of 25 percent. Five-year investment will reach US$500 million by 2005, almost doubling the US$290 million it invested between 1985 and 2000.

On Thursday morning, Malm attended the opening ceremony of Amoi Electronics Company Ltd in Shanghai.

Shanghai-listed Amoi, a domestic handset maker, announced that day it had selected Ericsson China's mobile platform division to provide core handset technologies for its new products. But both sides declined to reveal the detailed financial figures of the cooperation.

Source: Shanghai Daily news