ZTE has struck a US$20 billion financing agreement with China Development Bank (CDB), the Chinese vendor said today.

The pair said the deal will allow “in-depth cooperation in all areas between industry and finance by closely integrating the strengths of CDB in investment and financing and those of [ZTE] in industrial technologies.”

The so-called ‘Development Financing Cooperation Agreement’ builds on an initial deal between the two firms struck in March 2009 and will last for five years.

The US$20 billion is able to be tapped both as a ZTE credit line and, significantly, as a financing facility for the vendor’s overseas projects.

In a statement, ZTE said that the overseas financing would allow it to “meet the funding requirements of overseas customers in the purchase of the company’s equipment and related technical services.”

The credit will come as mid-to-long term loans, short-term loans, debenture financing, factored financing, supply chain financing, as well as trade financing such as guarantees, bills and letters of credit.