As of two weeks ago, 90 IPO applications had been accepted by the Nasdaq-style tech board of Shanghai Stock Exchange. Among them, a Chinese mobile phone maker, Transsion, is drawing much attention, as it has never sold a single unit in China. Instead, the company eyes other regions, especially Africa, as its major markets. And the company is best-known in Africa for its leading mobile brands TECNO. CGTN's He Weiwei has more.  

It's a line of communication spanning the Belt and Road and beyond. Cellphone maker Transsion filed its application for an initial public offering, or IPO on Shanghai's Science and Technology Innovation board in March. It plans to raise 3 billion RMB, that's about 447 million US dollars. The company says the money will be used to open more factories and innovation centers.

ARIF CHOWDHURY VICE PRESIDENT, TRANSSION HOLDINGS "IPO will help us in different ways. It'll help to invest more in the R&D and development. And it'll also help to recruit more talented people."

Mobile phone sales accounted for over 90% of the company's revenue last year.

HE WEIWEI SHENZHEN "Despite not being a household name in China, Transsion is the top mobile phone seller in Africa."

Transsion launched in 2006, and now has three cellphone brands. Last year, the company shipped over 120 million phones worldwide, and it has nearly 50% of the total market share in Africa. It offered many African consumers their first glimpse of a smartphone and impressed them with multiple functions, especially selfies.

"I enjoy taking photos, it's very fast. The camera quality is good as well."

"It's very very good, when you take a picture, it's very clear, any time, day or night, it's very clear."

MAXWELL TECHIE AUTHORIZED DEALER OF TECNO IN GHANA "Tecno was the first to introduce dual-sim cards in Africa. People like music, people like selfies, people like long batteries, all these things are incorporated into the research (of the company), then the phones."

Transsion's vice president says to apply for an IPO on a tech board means the company is looking to invest more in innovation.

ARIF CHOWDHURY VICE PRESIDENT, TRANSSION HOLDINGS "The mobile phone market is increasingly competitive and very fierce. Our investment will be making improvement on smart terminals, at the same time, to bring new solutions on mobile Internet services."

The company responded to a pre-IPO inquiry in April, but the Shanghai Stock Exchange has not yet announced a final listing. HWW, CGTN, SHENZHEN.