Xie Daxiong, executive vice president at ZTE Corp. (000063), China’s second-largest maker of equipment for mobile phone networks, comments on the resignation of Steve Jobs as Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s chief executive officer. The comments were made in an e-mailed statement today.

“Steve Jobs is undoubtedly an innovation pioneer and Apple is a great company. We would like to show our sincere respect to the big changes Apple and Steve has brought to the industry in the past few years.

“Secondly, we are very thankful to Steve Job’s contribution to the smartphone and mobile broadband industry. With innovation spirit, ZTE will play a more active role in communication, smart terminal and mobile broadband industry, and build more value for consumers around the world.”