IBM has acquired a 1 percent stake in a Chinese IT and service provider for 50 million yuan (US$7.37 million), the Shanghai-listed firm said yesterday.

Under the deal, IBM China's strategic stake in Bright Oceans Inter-Telecom Corp made the United States firm the company's third-largest shareholder, according to a statement filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

IBM's investment will help Bright Oceans, whose clients include China Mobile and China Telecom, expand the business in the country which will spend more to develop its 3G networks and is also promoting the convergence of the three networks of Internet, broadcasting and mobile telecommunications.

There are now 20 million 3G users in China and the number is set to triple by the end of this year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Bright Oceans' shares jumped 7.12 percent to close at 9.33 yuan, against a 1.02 percent drop for the Shanghai Composite Index yesterday.

IBM had also bought 1.56 percent of Sichuan Changhong, one of China's television makers, for 108 million yuan.