Finnish telecoms group Nokia on Tuesday said it planned to cut up to 10,000 jobs within the next two years to trim costs and invest more in research capabilities as part of its restructuring plan.

After taking over the top job last year, Chief Executive Pekka Lundmark has been making changes in a bid to transform the company to better compete with Swedish rival Ericsson.

In October, he announced a new strategy in which Nokia will have four business groups and said the company would "do whatever it takes" to take the lead in 5G, as it also banks on capturing shares from Huawei.

Lundmark is expected to present his long-term strategy, discuss action plans and set financial targets during the company's capital markets day on Thursday.

The company said in a statement that it expects about 600 million euros to 700 million euros  (approximately $715 million to $835 million) of restructuring and associated charges by 2023.

"Decisions that may have a potential impact on our employees are never taken lightly," Lundmark said in a statement. "My priority is to ensure that everyone impacted is supported through this process."

Nokia expects the restructuring to lower its cost base by about 600 million euros by the end of 2023. Half of the savings are expected to be realized in 2021.

These savings will offset increased investments in research and development and future capabilities and costs related to salary inflation, the company said.

In February, Nokia forecast 2021 revenue to fall to between 20.6-21.8 billion euros ($25-26 billion) from 21.9 billion euros in 2020.

The two telecom operators are exploring more opportunities in the Chinese market. Nokia said in June last year that China Unicom has chosen Nokia to support the buildout of its 5G SA Core network in China, with an approximately 10 percent share of China Unicom's 5G core network. 

In November, Nokia said it reached a strategic agreement with China Mobile to provide internet of things, or IoT, global connectivity services for both China and international customers.

Ericsson also said in June it had strengthened its market share in China by winning 5G contracts with all three major operators in China – China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile.

(With input from Reuters)