China Mobile has announced that it is paying US$214 million to buy a 15% stake in the local voice-recognition software developer, Anhui USTC. The companies have also agreed to enter into a partnership agreement to cooperate on applications and products.

Founded in 1999, Anhui USTC develops software that converts text into voice and mediates communication between people and machines.

"It is of great strategic significance for China Mobile to build a unified voice portal and to improve user experience through intelligent voice technologies," the company said in a statement. The move is however seen as a defensive move against the Apple and Android voice recognition services which are proving popular with the rival companies who can offer the iPhone on their networks.

The deal will also allow China Mobile to place one non-independent director on Anhui USTC's strategic committee and to make recommendations on strategy development and investment decisions.