(Yicai Global) Sept.4 -- TCL Corp. [SHE:000100] is seizing the opportunity the Belt and Road strategy presents to start a new round in its international development, and will thus set up a joint venture company in Argentina, said Li Dongsheng, its chairman. 

Mobile phones earn TCL its highest overseas income, but ferocious competition has driven down the performance of this line.

Li's key work is to revive mobile phone the business, he said, with improvements anticipated in the fourth quarter. Overseas income made up 45 percent of TCL's overall in the first half, a total of USD3.5 billion (CNY23 billion). TCL will further consummate its position within the Belt and Road initiative, Li said, though the key market is still Europe. TCL will up its promotion in countries along the Belt and Road and may achieve sound effectiveness in the next two or three years, expanding its market to encompass both ends of the Belt and Road. TCL has made inroads into the Latin American region, especially Brazil and Argentina. The company's color TV sales in the US market were up 216 percent over the previous year to rank in the top three. 

TCL is now still in the input period for markets, channels and brand development in Europe, and has thus not yet realized profits. The firm will keep pushing market construction and brand promotion in the European market. It may not only realize sales growth, but also realize profit growth in next one to two years, Li predicted.

TCL set up a joint venture in Brazil last year, and soon will establish one in Argentina to cover the Argentine and Peruvian markets, he said. TCL will also expand its future business in Russia, Central and Eastern Europe and Africa to gradually achieve a globally-unified matrix.  

TCL realized operating income of CNY52 billion in the first half, up 8 percent per year and net profits of CNY1.66 billion, up 111 percent. Total sales in its mobile phone, communications devices and other products reached 21.17 million, down 36 annual percentage points, while its sales income was CNY7 billion, a dip of 26 percent.