Nokia Corp introduced its first phone that runs on Microsoft Inc's Windows Phone operating system to China on Wednesday in the Finnish mobile phone maker's latest bid to maintain its position in the country.

"This is a special day for us in China," said Stephen Elop, Nokia CEO. "Nokia's Windows phone is finally landing in the biggest market of our company."

The new phone, the Lumia 800C, will operate on China Telecommunications Corp's code division multiple access network, a type of third-generation network, becoming the first Windows Phone device to use that system, according to Elop.

The Lumia 800C is a variant of the Lumia 800, which was released in October and is the flagship of Nokia's fleet of Windows Phone devices.

Nokia has given the new phone various features tailored to Chinese customers, including applications that were designed for use with Sina Weibo, the largest micro-blogging site in China; Youku.com, the largest video-sharing website; and Renren.com, the biggest social networking website.

"Chinese users will be able to choose different operating systems after the mobile phone goes on sale in early April," said Wang Xiaochu, chairman of China Telecom.

Although Nokia continues to hold the largest share in China's market for mobile phones, it is gradually losing ground to both local and overseas manufacturers such as Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, Samsung Group and Apple Inc.

Nokia's share of the Chinese market for smartphone products decreased to 30 percent last year, coming down from 70 percent in 2010, Reuters reported, citing information from the research and consulting firm Strategy Analytics Inc.

"The only way to change the situation in the Chinese market is to introduce more great products," Elop said.

Nokia also plans to release a less expensive Windows phone named the Lumia 610C in China in the second quarter of this year. The product will be mainly marketed toward Chinese youth.

In 2011, Noika adopted Microsoft's Windows operating system and decided to get rid of its own.

"Nokia's move will also be an important test for the Windows Phone, which has so far had limited appeal," Reuters wrote, adding that Nokia is "putting all its eggs in the Microsoft basket".

Microsoft's share of the Chinese smartphone market also fell to just 2 percent last quarter. Four years earlier, it had been at 13 percent, it said.

"Teaming up with China Telecom is a very important move for Nokia, because the telecom carrier will bring more sales opportunities to Nokia for its new products," said Shen Sui, an analyst at the Beijing-based iResearch Consulting Group.

"With the development of China's mobile broadband network, the country is embracing 3G," said Charles Zhang, chairman and CEO of the search engine company Sohu.com Inc.

Although public attention has been diverted to Apple's iPhone, Zhang said he believes Nokia will be able to retain its strength in the smartphone industry.

"Nokia is back," he said.

gaoyuan@chinadaily.com.cn