Motorola and Chinese telecommunication equipment maker Huawei Technologies plan to establish a research and development center in Shanghai as part of a plan to jointly develop a series of 3G mobile infrastructure products, the companies said Tuesday.

Huawei and Motorola hope that by teaming up, they can speed up the development cycle for 3G products. The two partners did not provide a timetable for when the 3G research and development center would be established. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Once up and running, the center will focus on development of Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) and High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) technology, they said. HSDPA is a high-speed upgrade for WCDMA networks and increases throughput rates of between 400Kbps and 600Kbps, with a peak rate of 14.4Mbps.

The deal reflects the growing industry clout of Huawei. In recent years, the company has grown to become a major player in the telecommunications industry. Much of Huawei's advantage lies in its ability to offer telecommunications equipment at a lower cost than its multinational rivals, but the company also invests heavily in research and development to stay competitive.

Earlier this month, the company announced its first Japanese 3G contract, to build an HSDPA network in northern Japan for eMobile. That network is scheduled to begin operation in mid-2007.