With a strong and successful presence in China since 1995 through its exceptional collaboration with Dataway, its Chinese partner with offices in Beijing and Shanghai, Orange Business Services - Trading Solutions already has around 70% of the voice trading platform market in China with five of the leading Chinese banks using Etrali Mach 3D turrets on its trading floors.

Orange Business Services - Trading Solutions is uniquely positioned to continue to provide world-class communications and to support the phenomenal growth of the Chinese financial sector, which is central to China's economic development and expansion. As part of this drive, the Orange Business Services - Trading Solutions unit acquired Dataway, which will now be known as the Chinese trading unit of Orange Business Services.

Says Raymond Cheung, manager of Dataway: "I am delighted that Dataway is now part of the Orange Business Services family. This will allow us to provide continuity of service and quality and serve our customers in China even better than before, and to draw on the experience, skills, and worldwide presence of Orange Business Services."

The trading unit of Orange Business Services is leveraging the already strong presence of the group in China.

Pierre-Louis de Guillebon, CEO of Orange Business Services - Trading Solutions, adds: "The Orange group already has around 150 staff in mainland China. This new step in our strategic initiative in China will support a similar rate of expansion as we have seen recently in London, where our presence has doubled in the last two years".

Of around 1200 traders in mainland China over 800 use Etrali Mach 3D turrets in key centres such as Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, NingPo and Shenzhen.

Says Henri Vautheny, managing director Asia-Pacific Orange Business Services - Trading Solutions, "The potential business in China is phenomenal and we have a unique opportunity to play a key role in this expansion."

Concludes Pierre-Louis de Guillebon, "We have an established direct presence in the Asia Pacific region through our subsidiaries in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and also China. This latest strategic initiative allows us to extend our already solid foundation in China, enabling us to support our clients both now and in their future growth and expansion. As the leaders in this market we are able to offer Chinese financial institutions a highly flexible platform for local and international expansion."