A Venezuelan-Chinese company will begin producing mobile telephones in this South American country next year, Venezuela's top telecommunications authority announced yesterday.

Telecommunications Minister Jesse Chacon said a joint venture involving Telecom Venezuela and the Chinese company Huawei would produce as many as two million mobile phones annually.

The model will use the global standard for mobile communications, or GSM. The technology allows users to access services in different countries, Chacon told the state-run Bolivarian News Agency.

The mobile phone factory is one of numerous cooperation agreements signed between the two countries since President Hugo Chavez took office in 1999, including a deal to buy a satellite from China that would give the South American nation autonomy in telecommunications.