BEIJING, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Kudelski Group, a global leading media content protection service provider, announced Wednesday here it has established a digital TV research and development center in Beijing, to better support the growth of the Asian digital television market.

    The research and development center will employ around 100 digital TV experts, said the Switzerland-based company.

    Andre Kudelski, Chairman and CEO of the firm, said here that the choice of Beijing has been motivated by the quality and the availability of the engineers from highly renowned universities in Beijing and by the proximity to key partners of the Kudelski Group in this region.

    "The creation of a research and development center and office in Beijing demonstrates the firm's belief that the Chinese market has a strong growth potential for the digital TV activities," he added.

    The company has been present in Chinese market since 1999, collaborating with major industry players including Beijing Gehua CATV Network Co., Ltd. and others.