Cisco (CSCO) has signed its first gold-level partner in the southwestwern area of China.

The new partner for Cisco is Sichuan Enrising Information Technology Co., Ltd., a technology services company affiliated with Sichuan Telecom that provides outsourcing services to clients in different industries.

Zhou Dazhi, general manager of Cisco Southwest Region, says that though Cisco Southwest Region signed gold partners in the region in the past, this is the first time that their headquarters signed the gold partner in the region directly. Cisco's Gold Partner is the highest level of certification for Cisco.

Cisco's global CEO John Chambers was in China last month to introduce the company's new development goals. After meeting with Shanghai government officials, Chambers signed a strategic cooperation in Beijing with Peking University and a series of memoranda of understanding with China's National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Commerce, which are all parts of the company's US$16 billion investment in China in the coming five years.

In addition, Cisco will invest US$350 million on Chinese small and medium enterprises and set up 300 network technology academies in the advanced occupational schools in the middle and western parts of China.