Cisco to partner with mainland server maker to ensure access, sources say

Networking-equipment giant Cisco Systems plans to announce a partnership with Chinese server maker Inspur Group during President Xi Jinping’s visit to Seattle on Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources. The move comes as Cisco and other tech firms face an increasingly tough market in China even after having worked closely with its government to help build the infrastructure of the country’s Internet. “There are certain geopolitical dynamics that we have to navigate,” said Chuck Robbins, who became Cisco’s chief executive in July, in a recent interview in which he didn’t discuss Inspur. “It’s been a tough couple of years.”