GUANGZHOU, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese telecommunications company ZTE reported full-year operating revenue of 108.8 billion yuan (17.2 billion U.S. dollars) last year, according to the company's annual report released Thursday.

It marked a yearly increase of 7.5 percent, the report said.

The company reported around 13 billion yuan of investment in research and development (R&D), accounting for about 12 percent of total operating revenue.

By the end of last year, ZTE had about 29,000 research staff, almost 40 percent of the total.

The company operates 20 R&D centers in China, the United States and Sweden, among others, as well as more than 10 joint innovation centers with global operators.

ZTE attributed the rising revenue to reasons such as continuous investment in telecommunications networks by global operators and the growing overseas mobile phone market.

The company said that it would focus on self-dependent innovation of core technologies and continue to increase spending on R&D of core products such as 5G in the future.

ZTE is a leading global provider of telecommunications equipment, networking solutions and one of the world's fastest growing smartphone manufacturers. It unveiled the world's first smartphone with 5G technology in Barcelona last year.