Sponsored by the Chengdu city government in the capital of Southwest China's Sichuan Province, the second Chengdu International Digital Entertainment Week will be held in the Chengdu Science and Technology Street from September 1 to 14.

A forum discussing the development trends of China's digital entertainment sector, an e-game competition drawing participants from South Korea and Russia, a display of famous digital products and an animation and cartoon design competition and exhibition will be held, said Zheng Heping, deputy secretary-general of the Chengdu city government.

Hosting the digital entertainment week is an attempt to boost the software sector in Chengdu, he said.

Manufacturing is Chengdu's strength. But the inland city is thousands of kilometers away from the sea and its industries spend at least 50 percent more on transportation than coastal regions. It takes five days longer for products manufactured in Chengdu to reach other countries than from coastal cities.

With the computer and Internet boom, in 2003 the Chengdu city government decided to take full advantage of the city's scientific and technological personnel to establish the software sector as a pillar industry.

A traditional electronic industrial base in China, Chengdu is an important educational and scientific research center in the country. It has 33 institutions of higher learning and 70 scientific research institutes feeding its talent pool. The city has some 630,000 scientists and technicians, the most in western China.

(China Daily August 3, 2007)