(Yicai Global) Dec. 20 -- Jiangsu Hengtong Optic-Electric Co. (HTGD) [SHA:600487] will work with a UK network chip developer to produce optical fiber network components in China to meet the requirements of increasingly-rapid internet transmission speeds.

HTGD will team with the UK's Rockley Photonics Ltd. to invest in Wujiang, Jiangsu province, setting up a joint venture company there to produce and sell 25/100G silicon light modules, the optical-electric equipment maker announced yesterday.

The pair anticipate investing a total of USD42 million in the project. The joint venture has registered capital of USD14 million. HTGD will hold 75.1 percent of shares in the company and Rockley Photonics 24.9 percent, per the announcement.

Rockley Photonics will provide semiconductor chips for the use and production of end products for the joint venture, which supports the 25G NRZ electronic interface and 25G NRZ optical modules. The joint venture enjoys the exclusive right to purchase the chip and to ply the above business in the region and to sell the end product outside it, per the announcement.

Silicon optic chip technology has the advantages of low power consumption, low cost and easy, large-scale integration. It is a breakthrough technology in the communication industry, the announcement said.

Dr. Andrew Rickman, Chairman and CEO of Rockley Photonics is an expert of silicon optical technology applied to the next generation data communication network, the announcement added. HTGD will pair with the National Key Laboratory of Infrared Physics Under the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to set up a photoelectric sensor research and development subsidiary for Internet of Things, provide technological support and commercialize the results with Internet of Things services, the company said. HTGD will provide 70 percent of the capital of the research and development joint venture and the latter 30 percent.