Many internationally famous companies have sent representatives to
the First China Foreign Company Reinvestment Symposium, which
opened Tuesday in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi
Province, to exchange ideas on exploring the high-tech market in
western China.
Sun Zhenyao, manager of Hewlett-Packard China, said that HP has
established business ties with companies in western China to
purchase high-tech products. Through the cooperation, a number of
Chinese companies have developed international competitiveness.
Sources with the meeting said many multinationals have eyed western
China as a source of high-tech talent.
China's strategy to develop the western region has spurred foreign
companies to invest in the region, especially in the high-tech
sector.
Since 1999, nearly 100 companies listed among the Fortune 500 have
set up representative offices or research centers in major cities
there. Their business covers a wide of range of sectors including
manufacturing of disc packet equipment, software and
telecommunications equipment, and research in e-commerce and
network technology.
This year, IBM invested US$20 million in setting up the world's
largest software development platform in Xi'an. HP invested 68
million yuan to set up an e-commerce technology research center in
the city, which will be the largest in western China.
Samsung, Toshiba and Sanyo have teamed up with Changhong, China's
flagship color television producer based in Sichuan Province, to
set up a joint lab.
Many cities in western China are strong in education and research.
For example, over 7,000 software students with college diplomas or
higher degrees graduate in Xi'an every year. There are also
hundreds of software companies employing 20,000 professionals.
This is attractive to foreign companies that will bring in
investment, provide job opportunities and contribute to the local
coffer. More importantly, Chinese companies can learn how to
compete with foreign companies, officials in western China
said.
An
increasing amount of investment has come to western China with the
arrival of multinationals and small and mid-sized overseas
enterprises. In January this year alone, 742 new foreign-invested
enterprises were set up in western China, involving a total
contractual overseas investment of US$1.91 billion.
Cheng Andong, governor of Shaanxi, said foreign companies are
welcome to invest in the fields of electronic information,
software, telecommunications, aviation and space and bio-technology
in the province.
(Xinhua News
Agency 09/06/2001)