TV JV starts operation

The leading TV manufacturers in China and France announced here Wednesday that their joint venture,the largest TV company in the world, has gone into official operation.

The TCL-Thompson Electroincs (TTE), jointly funded by China's TCL Group and French Thomson company with assets of 430 million euros (518 million U.S. dollars), will produce TV sets under the well-known brands TCL, THOMSON and RCA in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong province.

TCL International Holdings and Thomson hold 67 percent and 33 percent, respectively, of the new joint venture, according to the agreement signed on Jan. 28 in Paris, said TTE CEO Zhao Zhongyao.

The new company will have more than 20,000 sales terminals around the world and plans to sell 20 million color TV sets in 2004, Zhao said.

TTE has 29,000 employees, including 1,100 specializing in research and development. It plans to see profit in the markets ofNorth America and EU within 18 months, he said.

TCL and Thomson together sold 18.5 million color TV sets in 2003, more than any other single company in the world.

Source:Xinhua