Bloomberg reports that Huawei Technologies Co., China's largest phone-equipment maker, said it received a $10 billion credit line from China Development Bank to finance overseas expansion.

China's biggest state-owned policy bank will provide the facility to Huawei over five years, the Shenzhen-based company said on its Web site. The agreement marks the start of a strategic partnership that will be extended further, Huawei said.

Access to state funds will help closely held Huawei compete with publicly traded rivals such as Ericsson AB, Cisco Systems Inc. and ZTE Corp. as the equipment maker expands in Asia, Africa and Russia.

Huawei met a goal of doubling overseas sales to $2 billion this year.