Russian delegate calls for more high-tech cooperation between China and Russia

Vladislav Martynov, CEO of Yota Devices, one of the Russian business delegates of World Internet Conference, holds a YotaPhone 2, the company's second generation smartphone, on December 16, 2015 at Wuzhen, Zhejiang province. [Photo by Wang Chengmeng/chinadaily.com.cn]

"The conference is good to stimulate collaboration between different countries, particularly between Russia and China in the fast growing Internet-based business. It's also a very good platform to meet face-to-face with other countries' delegates and share opinions about what we should do to extend the benefits and minimize the risks brought by the Internet," said Vladislav Martynov, CEO of Yota Devices, one of the Russian business delegates of World Internet Conference (WIC).

Accompanying with the other Russian representatives from the companies such as Kaspersky and Russian Post, which were led by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Martynov met with Chinese tech entrepreneurs, including Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group, Pony Ma, CEO of Tencent Holdings Ltd and Cao Guowei, CEO of Sina Weibo at a round-table discussion during the meeting.

According to Martynov, the specific topic that concerned him in this event is that he believes Russia and China should work together if they want to take the leadership, drive the process of development and build competitive markets in the high-tech segment.

"YotaPhone is a collaboration example between the two countries," said Martynov.

The latest generation phone features a quad-core 2.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip, a 5-inch, 1080P AMOLED screen and a 2GB random access memory.

Unlike other standard Android-based phones, flipping the phone over reveals the E-ink display which uses zero power unless it is refreshing to receive new information.

In November last year, Russian president Vladimir Putin presented the Russian-designed, Chinese-manufactured YotaPhone2 to President Xi Jinping as a symbol of cooperation in the field of consumer electronics between Russia and China.

CEO of YotaPhone Devices Vladislav Martynov (left) with founder of China's Alibaba Group Jack Ma (right) at a round-table discussion of Chinese and Russian enterprises in Wuzhen, East China's Zhejiang province, Dec 16, 2015. [Zhu Xingxin/China Daily]

Six months later, the company introduced the device into the Chinese market by cooperating with local distribution channels.

On September 15, the company signed cooperation agreements with Shenzhen ZTE Supply Chain Co Ltd (ZTESC), an associate company of Chinese tech giant ZTE Corporation, and Shenzhen X&F Technology Co Ltd, an ODM that focuses on terminal products in the field of communications, aimed at producing innovative products.

In late October, Hong Kong-listed REX Global Entertainment Holdings Ltd signed an agreement to purchase 64.9 percent of Yota devices.

"The deal should be closed at the end of this year," said Martynov.

The Chinese smartphone market has seen rapid growth and started to mature in recent years, so some of the local players have spread their wings into other emerging markets such as India and Latin American countries to increase their market share.

According to Martynov, the company aims to provide premium and innovative products with acceptable prices for Chinese customers.

"With YotaPhone 2, we are looking for more niche and consumer-based market, not only for early adapters but also for someone who wants to be different," Martynov added.