Cisco will expand its investment in China to 16 billion U.S. dollars during the following five years, according to a post on Cisco's website on Thursday.

The multi-year investment includes materials procurement, venture capital, vocational education and other sectors.

Cisco signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Alibaba Group, China's biggest online business-to-business company, on Thursday, which said Cisco would provide "information technology solutions to small and medium enterprises with affordable prices."

According to previous MOU, Cisco would invest 17.5 million U.S. dollars in Alibaba Group's subsidiary Alibaba.com, as part of its planned initial public offering on the Hong Kong stock market.

Cisco also signed a MOU with China Development Bank on the same day, and the two investors agreed to support Chinese companies mainly in information technology, communications and health care sectors.

Cisco's investment in China during the past five years has totaled 8.5 billion U.S. dollars, it said.

Cisco would also cooperate with China's Ministry of Education to provide long-distance vocational education for those in central and western areas.

The plan is to train another 100,000 students by 2010, adding to the current 90,000 students, Cisco said.

(xinhuanet)