(Yicai Global) Nov. 7 -- A unit under the world's largest rolling stock manufacturer, Chinese state-owned CRRC, has struck a deal with the University of the Witwatersrand to build a research and development center in Johannesburg, the biggest city in its largest export market.

The joint research base will study new technologies for rail transport equipment, talent cultivation and international events, CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive told China News Service.

CRRC Zhuzhou has won USD2.5 billion worth of supply bids in South Africa since bagging its first contract there in 2012, and has signed deals to ship some 554 vehicles there. The new research center will be CRRC's 14th across the globe, joining existing bases in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and other countries.

The subsidiary began expanding overseas in 1997 and has sold trains for city railway systems in 10 countries, including India, South Africa and Malaysia. It has also competed for more than 40 projects spanning Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, and made CNY8.8 billion (USD1.3 billion) in revenue from overseas sales in 2015.