The Haier Group, China's largest manufacturer of white goods, announced Tuesday in Qingdao, Shangdong Province, that it will cooperate with the Cisco Systems Inc on networking systems for home and individual users and on expanding the Chinese and international markets.

The partnership will also give the companies the opportunity to share best practices in areas such as investments and financial management and controls, IDG News Service quoted a news release by Cisco as saying.

The two companies will work together on a broad range of projects in China, the United States and other markets, according to the release.

"We believe it is necessary to take advantage of Cisco's business practices as a model for efficient international expansion, particularly in areas like customer service that rely heavily on networked information technology," said Zhang Ruimin, CEO of Haier, told Xinhua News Agency.

The Qingdao-based Haier Group, the world's fourth largest white goods manufacturer and one of China's Top 100 IT companies, has diversified operations throughout the world with more than 50,000 employees.

The group reported global revenues of 107.5 billion yuan (US$14.2 billion) last year, up 8.6 percent from a year earlier.

California-based Cisco would share its experience in networking technologies to improve competitiveness, drawing on Haier's local management and operation practices, said Thomas Lam, president of Cisco China.