Huawei is always thinking of new marketing strategies. The Chinese telco major on Wednesday announced that it will be the sole sponsor of a soccer match in Beijing between two top Italian teams next month, to be held in the iconic “Bird’s Nest” stadium that was built for the 2008 Olympics.

The 2011 Italian Supercoppa, which pits A.C. Milan against Inter Milan, will have “a potential viewership of hundreds of millions around the world,” Huawei gushed in a statement.

The move, Huawei’s first international sports sponsorship deal, reflects the company’s effort to build its brand recognition among consumers, instead of just among network operators.

The sponsorship “is the start of Huawei’s diversified marketing in the future,” Victor Xu, Chief Marketing Officer for Huawei’s device business, said at a news briefing in a room inside the Bird’s Nest. Huawei will run a related marketing campaign for at least 6 months, he said.

Separately, Huawei may budget millions of dollars for marketing in the U.S. next year, Mr. Xu said. He didn’t elaborate, but the remark shows Huawei’s ambition to become a major handset vendor worldwide.