IBM and China’s Great Wall Technology Group have signed an agreement to produce and distribute IBM hard-disk drives for the world market, Reuters reported. Under the deal, a Great Wall subsidiary ExcelStor Technology will make and sell the desktop drive starting from the second half of 2002. In a separate announcement, Great Wall said that IBM would pay US$9m for a further 10 per cent stake in their joint venture International Products (Shenzhen), which assembles IBM personal computers. After the deal, IBM China would own 80 per cent of the venture and Great Wall would hold the remaining 20 per cent.