An agreement signed in Beijing on October 9 between the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and CEA, the French Atomic Energy Commission, in association with Bull and STMicroelectronics (ST) makes ST the first global semiconductor manufacturer to become a partner in the Chinese Open Platform Initiative, which is developing a new computing platform based on Linux open-source software.

Under the terms of the agreement, ST will work closely with Chinese, French, and other partners to develop low-cost, high-performance hardware/software platforms that pave the way for a complete chain of compatible open-source systems, from servers to mobile terminals and consumer appliances.

China has been advocating open-source platforms for several years now and has already adopted Linux as a standard. The agreement between MOST and ST-CEA-Bull follows an earlier MOU between the French and Chinese Governments to build a wide-ranging technical cooperation that addresses both the immediate local requirements of the Chinese market and the broader global movement towards low-cost but high-performance open-source platforms.