Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com and Shenzhen-based smartphone maker Coolpad announced a strategic cooperation agreement and signed a procurement contract with a total value of 10 billion yuan ($1.61 billion), China Economic Net reported. It is the largest procurement between a domestic e-commerce company and a mobile phone brand.

The procurement will not only cover smartphones, but also tablets and other digital accessories. Coolpad’s products with 4G, or fourth-generation mobile communication technology, will account for more than half of the volume.

Li Bin, Coolpad's deputy general manager, said the company previously sought opportunities to sell more directly to the Internet sector and tried the pre-sale model by cooperating with JD.com. Its e-commerce customized product boasted bookings of over 1,600 units on JD.com. Li said the e-commerce channel has become an important link in the smartphone industrial chain. The deal showed that more mobile phone makers are willing to cooperate with e-commerce companies and launch exclusive products for online sales, said Wang Xiaosong, vice-president of JD.com.