Cisco Systems today announced that it has made an investment of $50m in China Communications Services Corporation Limited (CCS), the telecoms support arm of a group of major Chinese telcos.

The deal makes Cisco the largest foreign strategic investor in CCS, which was recently created as a separate corporate entity with China Telecom Group, China Mobile and China Unicom as shareholders.

CCS is now publicly traded on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco and CCS will jointly provide managed telecoms services to enterprise customers in China, such as network operation and administration.

Additionally, the two companies will provide customers with new network solutions, including IP infrastructures, digital video and 3G platforms and applications.

China is an extremely important market for Cisco, according to Owen Chan, senior vice president of the vendor's Asia Pacific business.

While CCS is Cisco's largest direct investment in China, the company has also committed over $700m in venture funding to help launch nearly 30 Chinese start-ups such as e-learning company Ambow and gaming company Shanda.