Nokia Siemens Networks, the world's fourth-largest telecom gear maker, is planning to lay off around 300 employees in China.

This will be the company's second layoff in China this year. In March, it cut 350 jobs in the Chinese market.

A China-based Nokia Siemens Networks official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the layoff announcement was released on Friday. The move is part of the company's global plan to cut 17,000 employees by the end of 2013, he said.

The world's top five telecom equipment manufacturers have all suffered from an industry downturn since last year, largely due to global operators reducing budgets on network infrastructure amid economic uncertainties.

Nokia Siemens Networks posted an 8 percent decline in second-quarter sales to $4.11 billion from $4.48 billion in the same quarter last year.

Alcatel-Lucent, another leading telecom equipment maker, plans to eliminate 5,000 jobs in a drive to cut costs after it reported a second-quarter net loss of $308 million.