Chinese vendor ZTE has said it is in talks with Motorola about deepening their relationship but did not specify whether it is interested in a potential merger with the US company’s handset division. “We’ve been keeping in touch with Motorola on a wider cooperation,” ZTE’s Marketing VP for Handsets, Xiong Hui, told Reuters.  He did not give specific details.

Analysts have previously suggested that ZTE could be a potential suitor for the Motorola unit. Earlier this month Motorola revealed it is considering spinning off the division that has been losing market share to competitors in the last year. Both Samsung and LG have denied an interest in the handset business, which is valued by analysts at US$9 billion to US$12 billion. Recent reports have also said that Motorola is in talks with Nortel over a separate deal that would pool the firms’ network infrastructure divisions.