Beijing, China -- (SBWire) -- 09/20/2009 -- On Tuesday, Shanghai announced that it will establish a city-level organization by the end of 2009 to support the local software and information technology service industry. As part of the plan, Shanghai will establish 10 IT service and software industry zones by 2012. This would double the current number. It is also expected that around 400,000 people will work for the local IT industry, accounting for 6 % of the city's gross domestic product. In addition, Shanghai will establish a fund to support IT innovation and lend assistance to IT enterprises in obtaining bank loans.
According to the Shanghai Economic and Information Technology Development Commission, Shanghai's software and IT service industry is expected to generate RMB 360 billion (US$52.9 billion) in revenue by 2012. This would be a massive 74 % increase over the expected revenue of RMB 210 billion in 2009.
To lend further support to China’s IT and software industry, the People’s Bank of China has announced that the central government will implement national policies to support large-scale IT services firms which plan to launch initial public offerings or company bonds in the domestic market.
Edward Lehman of the “red circle” firm Lehman, Lee & Xu commented that “the government has really begun to push China’s IT industry in an effort to move China up the economic food chain. While China will certainly rely on low wages as its competitive advantage for years to come, low skill manufacturing for export is not the direction the government wants the country to continue in. For example, Guangdong province enacted policies a year ago aimed at encouraging high-tech and IT companies to set up in the province while at the same time discouraging low-tech or polluting manufacturing enterprises. China has also begun to develop its own domestically produced airliners and jet engines for aviation. Every indicator shows that the Chinese government is moving the economy in the direction of being reliant on an educated, high-skilled labor force which produces higher value goods and services. Our firm represents a number of software development companies and these are incredibly exciting times for this industry.”
Lehman, Lee & Xu is a prominent Chinese corporate law firm and trademark and patent agency with offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Macau, and Mongolia. The firm is recognized as a leading expert in corporate law and an active member of the Shanghai community.
To learn more about us, please visit our website at http://www.lehmanlaw.com
Lehman, Lee & Xu at the Forefront in Advising IT and Software Companies