Long dominated by US and European companies, the smartphone industry is seeing an influx of Chinese phone makers, who are tapping into the global market.

ZTE USA, a Chinese telecom equipment maker, is aiming to help create cheaper technology for smartphone users in the US, said Cheng Lixin, the company's CEO in North America.

Shenzhen-based ZTE is China's second-largest telecom equipment supplier after Huawei. ZTE makes mobile phones, data cards and infrastructure for wireless networks.

ZTE USA follows what Cheng calls an "A-C-W" (America-China-Worldwide) model. He explains that gaining recognition for the company in the US market, coupled with China's low-cost base and production efficiency, will help the business sell worldwide.

In the US, ZTE's strategy is to co-brand its devices with better-known carriers to familiarize customers with the company, Cheng said.

In September, the company launched ZTE Score, a fully featured Android smartphone, with Cricket Communications, a subsidiary of Leap Wireless, the seventh-largest telecom network in the US. With a retail price of $129.99, ZTE Score provides the best technology at an "accessible price point", Cheng said.

But the company's growing success has not come easily, as its central business - telecommunications - is a sensitive industry for foreign investors in the US.

Last year, US lawmakers asked the Federal Communications Commission to review the security risks of US companies such as Sprint Nextel, which was negotiating with ZTE and Huawei to purchase their equipment. Sprint ultimately ordered gear from other suppliers. Representatives from Sprint, however, later said that the company's decisions on suppliers were not influenced by any government intervention.

In January, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, an independent panel that advises Congress, said that Chinese telecom firms may be conscripted into plans for interfering with US wireless networks. The US government is concerned about Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei's earlier ties with the People's Liberation Army, although he left the army in 1983.

Huawei then challenged the US to launch an investigation into its business. Previously, the US government's foreign investment review had forced Huawei to sell assets it bought from 3Leaf and had interfered with an earlier deal between Huawei and 3Com.

Chinese executives at various business forums have expressed concern about the US not being receptive to Chinese investment in the telecom industry and that they have not been allowed to compete on a level playing field with US companies. Cheng did not want to comment on Huawei or US policy, but he said Chinese companies need to follow "local rules" if they want to compete in the US market.

ZTE's 2010 results, released in March, showed that revenue from its international operations grew by about 27 percent to $5.7 billion and accounted for 54 percent of its total operating revenue. For the first time, the US and European markets contributed the largest portion of its overseas revenue, recording year-on-year growth of 50 percent, which accounted for 21 percent of its total operating revenue.

ZTE's operations are transparent and it is publicly traded, Cheng said. More than 20 percent of ZTE's shares are held by investors based outside China.

Cheng said ZTE's North American operation will step up efforts to increase its share of the US market. He describes its US market share as still "relatively low" although it doubled sales in the US last year. ZTE is hoping to accelerate growth in the US through ventures with T-Mobile, AT&T and Sprint.

"It's been good. Our growth doubles every year," Cheng said.

ZTE established its presence in the US about 15 years ago. It has 14 offices now, employing about 400 people, more than 180 of whom were hired last year.

"Eighty percent of the hires here are local and this has improved the image of foreign investment in the US," Cheng said.

Cheng is optimistic about investment coming from China to the US, which he said "has great potential (to increase) in the coming years".

Cheng said China and the US are two big players on the world stage. "Historically, when the relationship between the two of us is in good shape, everything else stays good," he said.

Cheng said it would be a mistake for Chinese companies to take it for granted that if they are successful in China, they will be successful elsewhere. He said Chinese companies coming to invest in the US should adopt the local system.

China's rapidly growing economy over the past decade has helped Chinese businesses look into opportunities overseas, he said.

"The growing Chinese economy, of course, coupled with other elements such as China's entry into the WTO, definitely helped create a good platform for Chinese investments overseas."